Abstract: Objective To study the association between serum cystatin C level and blood pressure. Methods We conducted a
cross-sectional study of 912 subjects randomly sampled from a cohort visiting for routine physical examinations. The
epidemiological data were obtained using questionnaires and from the database of physical examination results. Pearson
analysis and multiple stepwise regression analysis were used to analyze the relationship between blood pressure and cystatin
C. Results The levels of serum cystatin C differed significantly among the normotensive, prehypertensive, and hypertensive
subjects (P<0.05). Pearson analysis revealed that regardless of gender, serum cystatin C was positively correlated with SBP,
DBP, MAP, BMI, TC, TG, LDL-C, UA and BUN (P<0.05). With MAP, SBP and DBP as dependent variables, multiple stepwise
regression analysis of the factors affecting blood pressure indicated that cystatin C had the strongest effect on SBP and MAP
(P<0.05) but did not significantly affect DBP (P>0.05). Conclusion Serum cystatin C level is significantly correlated with SBP
and MAP and can be used as a biomarker for alert of hypertension.