Retinol dehydrogenase 5(RDH5)is an NAD(H)retina-dependent oxidase. As a key enzyme in the visual cycle, it can initiate a series of enzymatic reactions to produce visual pigment, so as to achieve the conversion of photoelectric signal and participate in the formation of retinoic acid, etc. RDH5 mutation can greatly reduce the enzyme activity and even cause severe hereditary retinopathy, such as fundus albipunctatus, retinitis pigmentosa, and retinitis punctate albescens. In this paper, the research progress of RDH5 in visual cycle and hereditary retinal diseases in recent years is reviewed.