Objective To investigate the role of soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in peripheral vascular calcification in hemodialytic patients.Methods 40 hemodialytic patients with uremia underwent arteriovenous fistula reconstruction.The stumps of radial artery were removed for assessing vascular calcification.The patients were grouped according to the presence or absence of calcification and its degree.Serum levels of sCD40L and CRP were detected.The differences in levels of sCD40L and CRP were compared between calcification group and non-calcification group and between calcification groups at different degrees calcification.Results Radial artery calcification was detectable in 23 of the patients with calcium staining,9 of whom had severe calcification and the rest 14 had mild to moderate calcification.Levels of sCD40L and CRP were significantly higher in calcification group than in non-calcification group (P<0.01); they were also higher in severe calcification group than in mild to moderate calcification group (P<0.05).Levels of sCD40L were positively correlated with those of CRP. Key words: Hemodialysis; Blood vessel; Calcification; sCD40L; C-reactive protein