Objective: Diabetic retinopathy is the most commonest form of complications of diabetes mellitus which leads to vision loss if untreated. It has been hypothesized that oxidative damage may be involved in the pathogenesis of development of diabetic retinopathy. The aim of our present study is to evaluate the role of oxidative stress in diabetic retinopathy patients. Methods: We tried to assess the role of oxidative stress in patients by estimating the levels of lipid peroxidation assessing plasma Malondialdehyde(MDA) levels and antioxidant status by reduced glutathione(GSH), Vitamin-E ,Vitamin-C in blood. For this, we have taken 50 cases of diabetic retinopathy compared with 25 age matched controls . Results: There were significant increase in the levels of MDA and significant decreases in the levels of antioxidants like GSH, vitamin-E and Vitamin-C in patients when compared with controls. Conclusion: Our results indicate that oxidative stress is associated with the development of diabetic retinopathy which needs further studies.