Abstract: Objective  To investigate the correlation between serum Salusin-α， urotensinⅡ(UⅡ) and carotid intima-media thickness(IMT) in patients with essential hypertension (EH).  Methods  A total of 100 patients with EH and 100 healthy controls in the same time were enrolled. Serum Salusin-α and UⅡ were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and radioimmunoassay respectively. The IMT was detected by high-resolution ultrasound which was as an index of large vessel atherosclerosis (AS). The correlation of serum Salusin-α and UⅡ levels with IMT was analyzed. Results  Serum UⅡ level and IMT were significantly higher in EH group than those in control group (P<0.01)，while Salusin-α level was significantly lower in EH group than those in control group(P<0.01). IMT was negatively correlated with serum Salusin-α(r=-0.527，P<0.01)， and positively correlated with serum UⅡ(r=0.612，P<0.05). Conclusions  The change of serum Salusin-α and UⅡ has a correlation with carotid IMT， which suggests that Salusin-α and UⅡmay affect the resilience of arteries and participate the pathological process of AS. Serum Salusin-α and UⅡ may be new markers correlated with the severity of AS for clinical application.

Key words: Salusin-α, UrotensinⅡ, Carotid intima-media thickness, Essential hypertension