Objective To analyze the pathogenesis of diabetic fatty liver（DFL） from the abnormality of leptin level and insulin resistance to discuss the therapeutic effect of Yiqi Yangyin Huoxue（Reinforcing qi

replenishing yin

and activating blood） herbal medicines.Methods Totally 196 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were selected for retrospective study.Those 100 patients who had not developed to fatty liver were attributed to the control group

while those 96 who had already developed to fatty liver attributed to the test group.Blood sugar

fat

insulin resistance and level of serum leptin and soluble leptin receptor（SLR） were observed in all subjects.In addition

96 patients of the test group

which was subdivided randomly into basic treatment group（50 patients） and Chinese medicine treatment group（46 patients）

and they were all given the basic treatment including diet control

body weight control

exercise

and oral taking hypoglycemic agents

while the Chinese medicine treatment group was prescribed the herbal medicines for reinforcing qi

replenishing yin

and activating blood additionally.The course of treatment was 3 months.Before and after treatment

the liver ultrasound of B type examination

analysis on insulin resistance and determination of serum leptin and SLR were applied.Results There was significant difference in HOMA-IR

leptin and SLR between the test group and the control group before treatment（P<0.01）.In the test group

triglyceride（TG） was positively correlated with HOMA-IR and leptin level（P<0.01）

leptin level was positively correlated with HOMA-IR（P<0.01）.However

SLR level was negatively correlated with HOMA-IR（P<0.01）.There was no significant difference in the DFL degree between the basic treatment group and Chinese medicine treatment group before treatment （P>0.05）

and the DFL degree of the two groups was reversed to different degrees after the 3-month treatment

wherein

the DFL degree of the Chinese medicine treatment group was significantly improved（P<0.01）.There was no significant difference in HOMA-IR

leptin and SLR level between the two groups before treatment（P>0.05）.After the 3-month treatment

all indices of the two groups were improved to different degrees

however

those of the Chinese treatment group were improved more significantly.Conclusion The Chinese herbal medicines for reinforcing qi

replenishing yin

and activating blood are effective in improving insulin resistance and the abnormality of serum leptin and SLR level.This is possibly one of the mechanisms of the Yiqi Yangyin Huoxue therapy for DFL.