Aim To investigate the effects of homocysteine on the lectin-like oxidized low density lipoprotein receptor (LOX-1) mRNA expression and uptake of ox-LDL in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (hUVEC). Methods Total RNA was extracted with Trizol reagent. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to quantify mRNA expression of LOX-1 genein hUVECs. ox-LDL was radioiodinated with 125 I to detect the uptake of ox-LDL by hUVEC. Results LOX-1 mRNA expression increased after cells were incubated with increasing concentration of homocycteine (0.1, 1, 10 mmol/L) for 48 hours. The uptake of ox-LDL by hUVEC increased at the same time. Conclusion Homocysteine increases the expression of LOX-1 mRNA in hUVEC and uptake of ox-LDL by them which may contribute to the proatherogenic potential of homocysteine.