Objective: To explore the serum levels of adiponectin in patients with essential hypertension and the relation between adiponectin and blood pressure. Methods: Forty-five cases with essential hypertension and 43 healthy control subjects have been taken fasting blood samples for measurements of plasma glucose, plasma lipids, insulin, C-peptide, thyroid hormones, TNF-α, leptin and adiponectin. Glucose tolerance was assessed by 75-g oral glucose tolerance test. Results: The concentrations of adiponectin in cases with essential hypertension were significantly lower than those in the control group (4.15 ± 1.99 vs 7.04 ± 3.13 mg/ml, P = 0.000). Pearson relation analysis showed that serum adiponectin concentrations were negatively and significantly correlated with body-mass index ( r = - 0. 274, P = 0. 038), total cholesterol (r= -0.257, P = 0.048)in control groups, while adiponectin concentrations were negatively and significantly correlated with systolic blood pressure (r = - 0.356, P = 0.016), triglycerid
