〔Abstract〕 Objective By observing the changes of interleukin-22(IL-22),signal transduction and transcriptional activator 3(STAT3), fasting blood glucose(FBG)and fasting insulin(FINS) of rats under the circumstance of chronic intermittent hypoxia and reoxygenation, to explore the role of IL-22/STAT3 pathway in insulin resistance induced by chronic intermittent hypoxia.Methods 24 SD rats were randomly divided into control group(NC group) and intermittent hypoxia group(CIH group),with 12 rats in each group.NC group was placed in normoxia environ-ment for 12 weeks, while CIH group was first given intermittent hypoxia for 8 weeks and then resumed normoxia feeding until 12 weeks. FBG,FINS,IL-22 and p-STAT3/STAT3 levels were measured at baseline,week 8 and week 12 in both groups,and insulin resistance index(HOMA-IR) was calculated. The differences between the two groups were compared. Results(1) There was no significant difference of the observation indexes between the two groups at baseline(P>0. 05). At 8 weeks,the levels of FBG,FINS and HOMA-IR in CIH group were higher than those in NC group(P<0. 05),and the levels of IL-22 were lower than those in NC group(P<0. 05). p-STAT3/STAT3 showed a decreasing trend,but not statistically significant. At 4 weeks of reoxygenation,there were no significant differences in FBG,FINS,HOMA-IR and IL-22 levels between the two groups(P>0. 05). p-STAT3/STAT3 in CIH group was significantly higher than that in NC group(P<0. 05).(2) Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that HOMA-IR was negatively correlated with IL-22 and p-STAT3/STAT3( all P<0. 05). Conclusion Chronic intermittent hypoxia can inhibit the expression of IL-22/STAT3 signaling pathway,IL-22/STAT3 signaling pathway may mediate insulin resistance induced by chronic intermittent hypoxia.