Abstract: Objective To test the hypothesis that even low-grade microalbuminuria（LGAU） could predict subclinical target organs damage in untreated essential hypertensive（EH） patients.Methods Three hundred and one patients with EH were classified into three groups according to morning urine albumin concentration（MUAC）: normoalbuminuria（NAU） group（n=107,MUAC＜10 mg/L）;LGAU group（n=127,10≤MUAC＜30 mg/L）;microalbuminuria（MAU） group（n=67,MUAC≥30 mg/L）.The blood pressure,body height and mass were measured.Fasting plasma glucose（FPG） and plasma glucose 2 h after oral glucose load,total cholesterol （TC）,triglyceride（TG）,high density lipoprotein cholesterol（HDL-C）,low density lipoprotein cholesterol（LDL-C）,serum creatinine（Cr）,urea nitrogen（BUN）,uric acid（UA） were determined.Interventricular septum thickness at end-diastole（IVST）,left ventricular end-diastolic posterior wall thickness（LVPWT）,left ventricular end-diastolic diameter（LVDd）,intima-media thickness（IMT）,carotid plaque and plaque index（PI） were measured by ultrasonography.Results Logistic multiple regression analysis showed that body mass index（BMI）（OR=1.098,P=0.037）,systolic blood pressure（OR=1.100,P＜0.01）,FPG（OR=2.323,P＜0.01）,TC（OR=2.159,P=0.003）,HDL-C（OR=0.539,P=0.014） were independently associated with the occurrence of LGAU.Compared with NAU group,IVST,LVPWT,RWT,left ventricular mass index（LVMI）,incidence of concentric hypertrophy and concentric remodeling of left ventricle,IMT,PI of carotid artery and incidence of carotid plaque in LGAU