To observe the therapeutic effects of abdominal acupuncture on essential hypertension, and to explore the effects of abdominal acupuncture on circadian rhythm of blood pressure, autonomic nervous function and myocardial energy expenditure. Methods:A total of 200 cases of primary hypertension patients who were treated in our hospital from October 2011 to January 2015 were randomly divided into control group and observation group, with 100 cases in each group. The control group received conventional antihypertensive drug treatment, and the observation group was added abdominal acupuncture intervention. Both groups were treated for 4 weeks. 24 h ambulatory blood pressure, heart rate variability and the change of MEE after the end of treatment of 2 groups were observed. Results:1) After treatment, the systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of both groups decreased significantly (P<0.05), and the effect of SBP in the observation group was significantly better than that of the control group (P<0.05), but not significantly different in DBP (P>0.05). 2) After treatment, the SDANN and SDANNIndex of both groups decreased significantly (P<0.05), and the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). 3) MEE/sys, MEE/min and cESS were significantly lower in the MEE group after treatment (P<0.05), and the observation group was significantly lower than the control group (P<0.05). 4) MEE/sys, MEE/min and cESS in MEE were negatively correlated with heart rate variability SDANN (P<0.05). Conclusion:Abdominal acupuncture can control the circadian rhythm of blood pressure, and its mechanism may be related to the regulation of the autonomic nervous system, which can reduce the energy consumption of the myocardium.