Abstract: OBJECTIVE To explore the etiological characteristics of diabetic foot infection, observe the serum adiponectin (APN), interleukin-17 (IL-17), procalcitonin (PCT) ,and analyze the association of gene polymorphisms of nuclear factor E2 related factor 2 exon (Nrf2) with the infection. METHODS A total of 86 patients with diabetic foot infection who were treated in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine from Jan 2021 to Jun 2022 were assigned as the infection group, and 95 patients who did not have diabetic foot infection were chosen as the non-infection group. The etiological characteristics of diabetic foot infection were analyzed, the genotypes and alleles at rs6721961 locus of Nrf2 gene and the serum APN, IL-17 and PCT levels were detected. RESULTS Totally 91 strains of pathogens were isolated from the 86 patients with diabetic foot infection, 47.25% of which were gram-positive bacteria, 40.66% were gram-negative bacteria, and 12.09% were fungi. The frequencies of AA genotypes and A allele at rs6721961 of Nrf2 gene were higher in the infection group than in the non-infection group(P＜0.05). In the infection group, the frequencies of AA genotype and A allele of the moderate, severe patients were higher than those of the mild patients(P＜0.05). The serum APN level of the infection group was lower than that of the non-infection group, and the levels of serum IL-7 and PCT of the infection group were higher than those of the non-infection group(P＜0.05); the serum APN level declined with the aggravation of infection(P＜0.05), the levels of IL-17 and PCT were elevated(P＜0.05). CONCLUSION The AA genotype and A allele at rs6721961 locus of Nrf2 gene, serum APN, IL-17 and PCT levels are closely associated with the incidence of diabetic foot infection and severity of infection. The gram-positive bacteria and gram-negative bacteria are dominant among the pathogens causing the infection.