Diabetic retinopathy(DR)is the main cause of visual impairment and blindness in working-age people, which is the most common microvascular disease among diabetes complications.Hyperglycemia state can result in the aggravation of oxidative stress, release a large number of reactive oxygen species(ROS), and cause damage to protein, DNA or RNA in tissues and cells, thus causing cell death. Oxidative stress is considered as one of the important factors for the occurrence and development of DR. Antioxidant defense system is the key component of maintaining redox homeostasis. Superoxide dismutase(SOD)is a major antioxidant enzyme, which maintains the first line of defense in the antioxidant enzyme library. There are three kinds of SOD isozymes in mammals, which mainly protect cells from superoxide damage by accelerating the mutation reaction of SOD. It may delay the occurrence and development of DR by regulating the level of antioxidant enzyme SOD. Currently, the pathogenesis of DR remains unclear. In this paper, the protective effect of antioxidant enzyme SOD on pericytes and ganglion cells in DR was reviewed.