Abstract: Objective To evaluate the relationship between serum ghrelin and metabolic syndrome(MS).Methods Totally 78 MS patients and 49 control subjects were randomly selected from the staff of Northeastern University.Anthropometric indexes,serum ghrelin and parameters related with MS were measured.Results Serum ghrelin level in the MS group(0.74±0.77 ng/mL) were significantly lower than that in the control group(1.98±2.7 ng/mL,t=4.52,P <0.01).The differences in the prevalence of MS among the Q1,Q2,Q3,and Q4 groups of ghrelin content quartile were statistically significant(χ²=16.18,P < 0.01),and the prevalence of MS in each quartile group was 87.0%(20/23),72.2%(26/36),56.3%(18/32),and 38.9%(14/36),respectively.Logistic regression analyses showed that the risks of the Q2(odds ratioOR=3.67,95% confidence intervalCI=1.13-11.97) and the Q1(OR=8.86,95%CI=1.71-45.88) groups for MS were higher than those of the Q4 group.Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that gender,body mass index,waist to stature ratio,and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were predictors of the serum ghrelin(R2=0.46,F=20.05,P < 0.01).Conclusion Decreases in serum ghrelin level may increase the risk of MS.