Abstract: Diabetic retinopathy is the most common microvascular complication in diabetic patients, and it is also one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. It is evidenced that oxidative damage induced by excessive reactive oxygen species in the body is the major pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy. Flavonoids, present ubiquitously in plant diets, have many pharmacological functions such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic and free radical scavenging activities. Recently, increasing evidence has shown the significant role of flavonoids in preventing and treating diabetic retinopathy. In this paper, recent progress in the study of the anti-diabetic retinopathy potential of flavonoids is summarized with the aim of providing a theoretical basis and new ideas for further development and application of flavonoids.

Key words: diabetic retinopathy, plant diets, flavonoids, reactive oxygen species, oxidative stress