Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is a condition whose main characteristic is excessive blood glucose and, if not controlled, can cause chronic systemic complications such as, nephropathy, pulmonary dysfunction, retinopathy and vascular disorders, among others. Lung complications in diabetics, due to chronic hyperglycemia, have been studied more recently. Objective: This study aims to conduct a literature review on changes in lung function in diabetes mellitus, through an integrative bibliographical review. Method: Bibliographic survey, through an integrative literature review, to establish a correlation between glycemic control and lung function in diabetic subjects. The integrative review was made by searching the Medline international databases for review of manuscripts. Selection of these databases was based on the wide range of journals covered by each of them and our goal was to provide an overview of the scientific production devoted to the topic over the timeframe of analysis. The following inclusion criteria were considered during the review: use of the keywords “lung” OR “pneumopathy” OR “lung disease” MeSH “diabetes mellitus” entered into the search form, and availability of an abstract in English. Results: A total 12 scientific productions were selected by contain information about the pulmonary function alterations in diabetes. Conclusion: The main pulmonary function abnormalities found in diabetics are: lung volume reduction; lung elasticity reduced; capillary blood volume reduction; thickening of the capillary basement membrane; decrease in muscle strength; and paresis or bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis due to phrenic neuropathy.