Abstract： Objective To investigate the association of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of 45 T→G of adiponectin gene and serum adiponectin level with type 2 diabetic retinopathy. Methods PCR-RFLP method was used to determine the distributions of allele and genotype frequencies of SNP45 T→G polymorphism in 76 type 2 diabetic patients and 35 normal control subjects. The patients were stratified into three subgroups:without retinopathy (NDR,n=27),non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR,n=28) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR,n=21).Serum adiponectin concentration was determined by RIA,and compared with genotype and allele frequencies. Results (1) The level of serum adiponectin was significantly decreased in diabetes group compared with control group (P<0.001).Serum adiponectin concentration was significantly lower in PDR group than in NDR and NPDR groups.(2) Serum adiponectin was correlated negatively with age,systolic blood pressure,fasting plasma glucose,fasting insulin,glycated haemoglobin,insulin resistance index,triglyceride and LDL cholesterol. (3)The distributions of genotype and allele frequencies of T→G polymorphism of SNP 45 were not different among three subgroups and control group (P>0.05),and serum adiponectin levels in three genotypes were not different. Conclusions Adiponectin concentration is lower in patients with type 2 diabetes and the T→G polymorphism of SNP 45 in adiponectin gene is not associated with diabetic retinopathy in Qingdao Han population