Vascular calcification is a key risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.Rats received 10% fructose in drinking water for 12 weeks and adrenomedullin (ADM, 3.6 μg/kg, sc) twice a day for last 4 weeks.Fructose feeding (FF) increased ADM, calcitonin receptor-like receptors (CRLR), receptor activity-modifying protein (RAMP) 2 and 3 levels in aortic media.ADM attenuated FF-induced insulin resistance, increases in blood pressure,plasma glucose, insulin, triglycerides and cholesterol levels, and increases in calcium deposits, calcium content and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in aortic media.ADM increased osteopontin (OPN) protein expression,and reduced the bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) and core binding factor α-1 (Cbfα-1) expressions.ADM attenuated FF-induced increases in α-actin and SM-22α.The results indicate that ADM attenuates insulin resistance, calcium deposition and osteogenic transdifferentiation in aortic media in FF rats.