ObjectiveTo explore the characteristics of blood pressure variability (BPV) in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients with and without diabetes mellitus and the effects of BPV on cardiac function based on the research of clinical data. MethodsOne hundred MHD patients treated in the Hemodialysis Center of the People’s Hospital of Taixing City between January 2013 and January 2015 were recruited and divided into diabetes group (n=46) and non-diabetes group (n=54). Interdialytic and intradialytic BPV and cardiac function were monitored and compared between the two groups. Standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) were used for the evaluation of BPV. ResultsTriacylglycerol, cholesterol and plasma albumin were significantly different between the diabetes group and non-diabetes group (P<0.05), while hemoglobin, serum calcium, phosphorus and parathyroid hormone were not significantly different between the two groups (P>0.05). Forty-two patients in the diabetes group and 53 in the non-diabetes group took antihypertensive drugs. The varieties of antihypertensive drugs and the proportion of patients who used antihypertensive drugs were not significantly different between the two groups. The ambulatory blood pressure monitoring displayed 40 patients (86.9%) with reverse dipper or non-dipper blood pressure in the diabetes group and 35 (64.8%) in the non-diabetes group, and the difference was significant (P<0.05). The interdialytic mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), SBP-SD and SBP-CV in the diabetes group were all significantly higher than those in the non-diabetes group (P<0.05), and the mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP), DBP-SD and DBP-CV were also significantly different between the two groups (P<0.05). The intradialytic mean SBP, SBP-SD and SBP-CV in the diabetes group were significantly higher than those in the non-diabetes group (P<0.05), but there were no significant differences in intradialytic mean DBP, DBP-SD and DBP-CV between the two groups. In patients with reverse dipper or non-dipper blood pressure, the interventricular septal thickness, left ventricular end-diastolic diameter and ejection fraction were significantly different between the diabetes group and the non-diabetes group. However, in patients with dipper blood pressure, the cardiac function parameters were not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusion MHD patients with diabetes have higher ratio of reverse dipper or non-dipper blood pressure, more significant blood pressure variability and more severe cardiac function damage.