Objective To investigate the clinical application of acupuncture combined with metformin or the treatment of diabetes at the early stage.Methods According to the random table method,123 patients with diabetes at the early stage were divided into control group (n=61) and the treatment group (n=62).The patients in the control group were treated with metformin,while the patients in the treatment group were treated with acupuncture combined with metformin.Two groups of patients were treated for 12 weeks.The clinical total effective rate of two groups of patients after treatment was counted.The FPG,HbA1c,FINS,FCP,TG,TC,LDL-C,HDL-C,LEP,GLP-1,RETN,HOMA-IR and ISI of the two groups before and after treatment were compared.Results The total effective rate of treatment group was 91.9％ (57/62),while the control group was 65.6％ (40/61),and the difference between two groups was statistically significant (x2=12.818,P＜0.01).After treatment,the FPG,HbA1c,FINS.FCP,HOMA-IR,ISI,TG,TC,LDL-C,LEP,RETN of treatment group were significantly lower than those of the control group (t were 14.149,14.301,4.254,7.552,9.470,11.032,9.993,12.000,11.802,5.385,9.121,P＜0.01),while the HDL-C,GLP-I of treatment group were significantly higher than those of the control group (t were 3.402,14.680,P＜0.01).Conclusions Acupuncture combined with metformin or the treatment of diabetes at the early stage has a good efficacy,can correct the disorder of glucose and lipid,improve the insulin resistance.