Although in the present study, a clear distinction between arterial stiffness and atherosclerosis cannot be made, our results suggest that in stable chronic hemodialysis patients serum levels of the calcification inhibitor fetuin-A and the osteoclast inhibitor osteoprotegerin are independently associated with pulse wave velocity, a marker of arterial stiffness but not with carotid intima-media thickness, a marker of early atherosclerosis. The gene discussed is TNFRSF11B; the disease is atherosclerosis.