Objective To explore the effects of high-flux hemodialysis( HFHD) and convention hemodialysis( CHD) on depression level and concentration of interleukin-6( IL-6), homocysteine( Hcy), malondialdehyde( MDA), superoxide dismutase( SOD) in the serum of maintenance hemodialysis( MHD) patients. Methods A total of 72 MHD patients were divided into HFHD group and CHD group randomly, with 36 patients in each. Before treatment and 6 months after, all the participants were estimated for depression score and concentration of IL-6, Hcy, MDA, SOD in serum when dry weight was reached after dialysis. Results Before treatment, there was no intergroup statistical difference in depression score, concentration of IL-6, Hcy, MDA, SOD in serum( P > 0.05) between the two groups. After 6-month treatment, the depression score and the serum concentration of IL-6, Hcy, MDA in HFHD group decreased significantly( P<0.05), and the SOD concentration increased( P<0.05). There was no noticeable change of all the indicators of CHD group compared with those before treatment( P>0.05). The depression score and the level of serum IL-6, Hcy, MDA in group HFHD decreased compared with CHD group, and the SOD concentration increased as well( P<0.05). Analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between depression score and IL-6, Hcy, MDA level(r=0.367, 0.463,0.769, respectively). The correlation between depression score and SOD level was negative(r=-0.571). Conclusions HFHD can alleviate depression states by eliminating IL-6,Hcy,MDA more efficiently and increasing SOD level than CHD in MHD patients