Background MicroRNA(mi R)-92 a has been demonstrated to be associated with atherosclerosis through different ways. However, there are limited date about the association of miR-92 a with arteriosclerosis in hypertensive patients. Methods We assessed the plasma level of mi R-92 a in 110 patients with untreated essential hypertension and 65 healthy individuals. All patients underwent the measurement of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity(ba PWV) and ambulatory blood pressure. Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction(q RT-PCR) was used to evaluate level of mi R-92 a. The correlations of mi R-92 a with blood pressure parameters and ba PWV were assessed using the Spearman correlation coefficient. Receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve was constructed and the area under the ROC curve(AUC) was generated to assess the diagnostic value of mi R-92 a for arteriosclerosis. Results The plasma level of mi R-92 a was significantly higher in hypertensive patients than in control individuals(31.03±3.13 vs. 25.00±2.99; P <0.001),and higher in arteriosclerosis group than in unarteriosclerosis group(33.74±2.43 vs. 27.51±3.28; P<0.001). There were significantly positive correlations between Mi R-92 a level with 24 h mean SBP(r=0.874, P<0.001), 24 h mean DBP(r=0.680, P<0.001) and ba PWV(r=0.685,P<0.001). ROC curve analyses revealed that the AUC value for mi R-92 a was 0.929(95%CI: 0.886, 0.973; P<0.001). Conclusions The level of mi R-92 a is positively related to ba PWV, and holds great potential to be a noninvasive screening marker for arteriosclerosis in essential hypertensive patients. Background MicroRNA (mi R) -92 a has been demonstrated to be associated with atherosclerosis through different ways. However, there are limited date about the association of miR-92 a with arteriosclerosis in hypertensive patients. Methods We assessed the plasma level of mi R -92 a in 110 patients with untreated essential hypertension and 65 healthy individuals. All patients underwent the measurement of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba PWV) and ambulatory blood pressure. Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (q RT-PCR) was used to evaluate level of mi R-92 a. The correlations of mi R-92 a with blood pressure parameters and ba PWV were assessed using the Spearman correlation coefficient. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed and the area under the ROC curve AUC) was generated to assess the diagnostic value of mi R-92 a for arteriosclerosis. Results The plasma level of mi R-92 a was significantly higher in hypertensive patients than in contro (31.03 ± 3.13 vs. 25.00 ± 2.99; P <0.001), and higher in arteriosclerosis group than in unarteriosclerosis group (33.74 ± 2.43 vs. 27.51 ± 3.28; P <0.001). There were significantly positive correlations between Mi R- ROC curve analyzes showed that the positive rate of 24 h mean SBP (r = 0.874, P <0.001), 24 h mean DBP (r = 0.680, AUC value for mi R-92 a was 0.929 (95% CI: 0.886, 0.973; P <0.001). Conclusions The level of mi R-92 a positively related to ba PWV, and holds great potential to be noninvasive screening marker for arteriosclerosis in essential hypertensive patients.