Essential hypertension is considered to be caused by a complicated combination of genetic and environmental factors. Alterations of lipid metabolism in plasma have been reported to be related to an increased risk of essential hypertension. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between two genetic polymorphisms (Pvu II and Hind III RELPs) of the human lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene and essential hypertension in korean population. In our result the Pvu II RFLP of LPL gene was significantly associated with essential hypertension (P < 0.05). Therefore, we suggest that the Pvu II RFLP of LPL gene may be useful as a genetic marker for essential hypertension in Korean population.