Therapy with losartan compared to irbesartan was performed in a Chinese sample of hypertensive patients with elevated serum uric acid (SUA) levels. After 1 week of screening and a 2 week single-blinded placebo baseline period, patients were treated for 4 weeks with losartan 50 mg or irbesartan 150 mg. After 4 weeks, patients with SiDBP <90 mmHg and SiSBP <140 mmHg continued the same dose regimen for another 4 weeks. If blood pressure was not controlled after 4 weeks of treatment, the dose of either regimen was doubled to losartan 100 mg and irbesartan 300 mg. There were 351 patients randomized (176 to losartan and 175 to irbesartan), and of these, 325 patients completed the study (162 in the losartan group and 163 in the irbesartan group). At baseline, the median SUA level in the losartan group was 422 and 420 micromol/l in the irbesartan group. At 8 weeks of therapy, SUA decreased by 63 mumol/l in the losartan group compared to 12 mumol/l in the irbesartan group (P < 0.0001). Blood pressure declined comparably in both groups from 151/92 mmHg at baseline to 137/83 and 135/83 (losartan and irbesartan, respectively, NS). No severe AEs were found for either treatment group. Therapy with losartan decreased SUA levels significantly more than irbesartan in Chinese patients with hypertension and elevated SUA levels, demonstrating the unique uricosuric effect of this ARB in this ethnic group.