ABSTRACT Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a heterogeneous metabolic disorder characterized by the presence of hyperglycemia due to impairment of insulin secretion, defective insulin action or both.Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a vision threatening neurovascular disease and the most dangerous complication of DM. Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is an important protein for the neurons survival. It is produced in the retina by retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and encoded by BDNF gene.   Objective: to clarify the association of serum BDNF levels and its gene polymorphism Val66Met (rs6265) with the development of diabetic retinopathy in type 2 diabetic patients. Methodology: This case-control study was conducted on was conducted on 60 diabetic patients (30 of them having diabetic retinopathy, while the other without retinopathy), In addition to 30 healthy subjects as controls. Serum BDNF was detected by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and BDNF Val66Met polymorphism genotyping was performed by real time PCR. Results: No statistically significant difference between DR patients, diabetic without retinopathy patients, and healthy control subjects regarding BDNFgenotypes frequency distribution (p> 0.05), and/or serum BDNF levels (p > 0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that, neither BDNF Val66Met polymorphism nor serum BDNF levels were associated with development of DR.