Traditional therapies of tissue repair of diabetes are mainly medication and surgery,while stem cell transplantation has made great progress in the treatment of diabetic complications in animal models and clinical outcomes,some of which are embryonic stem cells,mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells.The mechanism of stem cells to treat diabetic complications includes its participation in new blood vessels forming,starting and secreting some related factors,immune regulation,proliferation and differentiation,etc.The classification and characteristics of stem cells,and the mechanism of therapy of diabetic skin trauma and lower extremity vascular lesions,diabetic cardiomyopathy,nephropathy,peripheral neuropathy etc are reviewed.