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Purpose Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of vision loss in working-age people. To retard the development and progression of retina lesions, effective therapeutic strategies directed toward key molecular targets are desired. Phlorizin is effective in treating diabetic complications, but little is known about functional protein changes that may mediate its actions. The aim of this study was to identify retinal proteomic alterations in db/db mice treated with phlorizin. Methods We used C57BLKS/J db/db mice as a type 2 diabetic animal model, while C57BLKS/J db/m mice were selected as the control. Phlorizin (20 mg/kg bodyweight /d) was administrated to db/db mice for ten weeks. Serum fasting blood glucose and advanced glycation end products were determined. Meanwhile, retina cell apoptosis was determined with terminal transferase dUTP nick end labeling. Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification and subsequent liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) were used to identify and profile retinal proteins among control, untreated diabetic, and phlorizin-treated db/db mice. The expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein was measured in retinas using western blotting analysis. Results Phlorizin treatment significantly reduced fasting blood glucose and levels of advanced glycation end products (p