Objective To investigate the expression of endothelin-1 (ET-1), ET-2, ET-3,endothelin receptor A (ETRA), ETRB and endothelin coverting enzyme (ECE) in the retinas of 8-week-old diabetic SD rats. Methods The retinal gene expression profiles of healthy and 8-week-old diabetic rats were constructed with restriction fragment differential display polymerase chained reaction (RFDD-PCR), and the differential expression of ET-1, ET-2, ET-3, ETRA, ETRB and ECE was verified using semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting analysis.Results The Results of RFDD-PCR showed that the expression of ET-1, ET-2, ET-3, ETRA, ETRB and ECE was up-regulated in diabetic retina. The Results of semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting analysis showed that the expression levels of the six genes and proteins (relative D ratio) in diabetic group were significantly higher than those in the normal retinas (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively). Conclusion The expression of ET-1, ET-2, ET-3, ETRA, ETRB and ECE is up-regulated in diabetic retina, suggesting that the six genes may be involved in the pathgenesis of diabetic retina.