Objective To probe the relationship between the levels of two hormone,growth hormone (GH) and insulin-I like growth factor-I(IGF-I),and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in the patients with noninsulindependent diabetic mellitus (NIDDM)． Methods The direct radioimmunoassay was used to determine GH and IGF-I in the serum of 38 normal cotrols,61 NIDDM patients without DR,77 patients with the simple DR and 48 patients with the proliferative DR．Difference among these groups were analysed and compared by the methods of t test,F test and correlation analysis． Results The results showed that the levels of GH and IGF-I in the patients with diabetes [GH(1.659plusmn;1.509)ng/ml，IGF-I(118.7plusmn;52.0) ng/ml] were significantly higher than those in the normal controls [GH(0.619plusmn;0.351)ng/ml，IGF-I (63.6plusmn;30.6) ng/ml)] (P＜0.01),and those in the DR group were higher than those in the NIDDM without retinopathy group (P＜0.01),and levels of GH and IGF-I in the proliferative DR group [GH(2.953plusmn;1.648) ng/ml，IGF-I (159.2plusmn;47.5) ng/ml] ) were significantly higher than those in the simple DR group [GH(1.742plusmn;1.523) ng/ml，IGF-I (123.6plusmn;40.6) ng/ml] (P＜0.01)．SeveritY of DR was positively correlated with the levels of GH and IGF-I(P＜0.01)． Conclusion The results indicate that GH and IGF-I levels in the serum of patients with diabetes might be correlated with mechanisms and development of DR． (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis,2000,16:30-31)