Aim To elucidate the relationship between advanced glycation end products (AGE), arterial stiffness and the degree of coronary artery stenosis in Chinese Han patients.Methods The serum concentration of AGE was measured and the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) was detected in 105 cases of mild/moderate coronary stenosis, 130 cases of serious coronary stenosis and 150 aged-matched control subjects.Results Serum AGE and baPWV were significantly higher in the mild/moderate coronary stenosis and serious coronary stenosis patients when compared with the control subjects (P<0.001). In Logistic regression analysis, serum AGE and baPWV were independently associated with the degree of coronary artery stenosis (P<0.001). Further analysis showed that AGE was significantly and positively correlated with baPWV (r＝0.692, P<0.001).Conclusions Serum AGE was an independent risk factor of the severity of coronary artery disease and might be involved in the development of coronary artery stenosis through inducing arterial stiffness.