To investigate the relationship between insulinase activity of erythrocytes (EIA) and insulin resistance in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: EIA was determined with the method of radioassay of enzyme activity in 65 healthy subjects, and 109 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus divided into 3 subgroups according to their therapy and plasma glucose control. Fasting plasma insulin (FINS) and other related indices were also measured in all the subjects. Moreover, insulin sensitive index (lSI) was calculated for estimation of insulin sensitivity. Results: EIA and FINS are increased in two subgroups of diabetic patients on hypoglycemics (subgroup A and subgroup B), and especially higher in the poor controlled subgroup of patients ( subgroup A). EIA and FINS are normal in subgroup of patients without medication (subgroup C). Moreover, ISI is decreased in all the subgroups of patients as compared with normal subjects. Correlation analysis show that EIA is inversely correlated with ISI in all subgroups of patients and normal subjects, and positively correlated with FINS in normal subjects. Conclusions:The rate of insulin degradation in erythrocytes is increased in patients with type 2 diabetes, and increased insulin degradation may result in their insulin- resistant state. Moreover, EIA may be used as one of the indices for estimation of insulin sensitivity.