Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a common microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus, with capillary occlusion, microaneurysms, and neovascularization as main pathological features, and its pathogenesis has not been fully understood.The existing clinical treatment can not cure DR, therefore, the study of the pathogenesis of DR is still a hot topic and difficult problem.Current studies have suggested that oxidative stress response is one of the important mechanisms for the development of DR, which promotes the production of excessive reactive oxygen species to induce retinal cell dysfunction and apoptosis.Imbalance of levels of nitric oxide (NO) from different types of sources in the retina under hyperglycemic stimulation also plays an important role in pathological changes, such as capillary damage, blood-retinal barrier disruption and neovascularization in DR.At the same time, NO interacts with oxides produced by oxidative stress to promote further retinal damage in DR, leading to retinal morphology abnormality and dysfunction, which ultimately cause irreversible blindness in patients.Research status of NO and oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of DR from pathophysiological changes of DR, DR and oxidative stress, DR and NO, and the role of NO in oxidative stress were reviewed in this article.