Objective To investigate levels of IL-17 and IL-22 mRNA in the blood of type 2 diabetes(T2DM)patients with the different stages of kidney injury and explore the relationship between the gene expression levels of IL-17,IL-22 and renal lesions in patients with diabetic nephropathy(DM).Methods Subjects included 60 T2DM patients with or without kidney injury and 20 normal controls(NC,n=20).Diabetes patients were divided into 3 groups by level of urinary albumin to creati-nine ratio (ACR):no proteinuria group (NA,ACR<30 mg/g,n=22),microalb uminuria group (MA,30 mg/g>ACR>300 mg/g,n=18)and diabetic nephropathy group (DN,ACR>300 mg/g,n=20).Quantitative Real-Time RT-PCR was used to detect IL-17 and IL-22 mRNA levels.Analysis differences of IL-17 and IL-22 mRNA levels among NA,MA,DN and NC groups.Results The levels of IL-17 and IL-22 mRNA were significantly higher in DN group than that in MA,NA and NC group (P <0.01,respectively),However,there were not significant difference among MA,NA and NC group (P >0.05,re-spectively).Conclusion Levels IL-17 and IL-22 mRNA were increased in blood of T2DM patients with nephropathy.IL-17 and IL-22 may play role in the pathogenicity of diabetic nephropathy.