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Necmettin Erbakan University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmolog, Konya/TURKEY Cataract is a major cause of blindness in the world. Over 25 million adults and children, 90% of whom are from developing countries, suffer from cataract induced blindness. Cataracts are among the earliest complications of diabetes mellitus. It's demonstrated that patients with diabetes mellitus are 2-5 times more likely to develop cataracts than their non-diabetic population; this risk may reach 15-25 times in diabetics less than 40 years of age. Multiple mechanisms have been implicated in the development of cataract in diabetes. This review mainly mentions with three different mechanisms that may be involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic cataract: activated polyol pathway, nonenzymatic glycation of eye lens proteins and oxidative stress. Keywords : Diabetic cataract, lens, polyol pathway, nonenzymatic glycation, oxidative stres