Objective     To evaluate the effect and safety of vitamin E supplementation on microinflammation in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients.      Methods     Fifty-eight MHD patients and 20 healthy volunteers were involved in this study. The patients took 400 mg/d vitamin E orally for 6 weeks. The plasma levels of vitamin E and microinflammatory cytokines including C-reactive protein (CRP)

interleukin-6 (IL-6)

interleukin-10 (IL-10)

tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) were measured before and at the end of vitamin E supplementation respectively.       Results     The plasma levels of CRP

IL-6

TNF-α [(4.71±1.81) mg/L

(96.25±46.19) pg/ml

(0.082±0.03) ng/ml] in MHD patients were significantly higher than those in controls respectively [(2.10±0.67) mg/L

(49.30±28.12) pg/ml

(0.037±0.02 ng/ml)] (P0.01). Vitamin E supplementation at dose of 400 mg/d decreased the plasma levels of CRP [(3.49±1.34) mg/L vs (4.71±1.81) mg/L]

TNF-α [(0.042±0.02) ng/ml vs (0.082±0.03) ng/ml] (P0.01) as compared with those before vitamin E supplementation

but caused no significant changes of plasma levels of IL-6 [(92.73±34.05) pg/ml vs（96.25±46.19）pg/ml] and IL-10[(1.42±20.62) pg/ml vs（5.12±32.29）pg/ml].       Conclusion     Microinflammation exists in MHD patients

and vitamin E at dose of 400 mg/d ameliorates microinflammation without apparent side effects.