Diabetes mellitus （DM） is a group of clinical syndromes caused by the interaction of genetic and environmental factors，which can lead to the occurrence of chronic metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia. Moreover，long-term metabolic disorders can lead to multiple organ tissue damage，such as eye，kidney and cardiovascular disease，affecting patients’quality of life and even death. Long non-coding RNAs （LncRNAs） are a class of RNA molecules that do not encode proteins featuring large number. The number of LncRNAs is huge，with transcripts over 200 nucleotides in length. LncRNAs were originally considered to be “transcriptional noise”. However，with the gradual revelation of the roles of ncRNA molecules，such as microRNAs and small interfering RNAs （siRNAs），researchers have begun to pay renewed attention to their biological functions. LncRNAs have attracted much attention in recent years owing to their influence on a variety of molecular pathways. In addition，studies have confirmed that LncRNAs play a key regulatory role in the pathological process of diabetes. This review briefly summarized and discussed the relationship between LncRNAs and diabetes and its complications，so as to provide theoretical basis for the research and treatment of diabetes mellitus.