OBJECTIVE： To observe the effects of epalrestat combined with lipoic acid on nerve function， oxidative stress and inflammatory reaction in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy （DPN）. METHODS： From Jan. 2013 to Jan. 2016， 150 patients were selected from our hospital and then divided into group A， B， C according to random number table， with 50 cases in each group. Group A was given Lipoic acid injection 600 mg， ivgtt， qd； group B was given Epalrestat tablet 50 mg， po， tid； group C was given lipoic acid+epalrestat， same usage and dosage as above. TSS score， MNCV， SNCV， oxidative stress indexes （SOD and MDA） and inflammatory indexes （TNF-α and IL-6）， as well as blood pressure， blood lipid and blood glucose indexes were compared among 3 groups before and after treatment. The occurrence of ADR were observed. RESULTS： Before treatment， there was no statistical significance in above indexes among 3 groups （P＞0.05）. Compared to before treatment， TSS score， MDA， TNF-α and IL-6 levels of 3 groups were decreased significantly after treatment； MNCV and SNCV were speeded up significantly， and SOD level was increased significantly； each index of group C was better than that of group A and B， with statistical significance （P＜0.05）， but there was no statistical significance between group A and B （P＞0.05）. SBP and FPG after treatment of 3 groups were decreased significantly than before treatment， while HDL-C was increased significantly， with statistical significance （P＜0.05）； there was no statistical significance among 3 groups （P＞0.05）. No obvious ADR was found in 3 groups. CONCLUSIONS： Epalrestat combined with lipoic acid can effectively improve nerve function in DPN patients by inhibiting oxidant stress and inflammatory reaction with good safety. The effect of drug combination is better than single drug.