Objective To investigate the correlation between the uric acid to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (UHR) and the presence of atherosclerotic stenosis in both intracranial and extracranial arteries among patients who have experienced cerebral infarction. Methods Patients with cerebral infarction admitted to the Department of Neurology of Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital between January 2021 and June 2024 were retrospective selected. According to the digital subtraction angiography (DSA) performance, patients were divided into cerebral atherosclerotic stenosis group and no cerebral atherosclerotic stenosis group. According to the location of atherosclerotic stenosis, patients were divided into extracranial atherosclerotic stenosis group, intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis group, intracranial and extracranial atherosclerotic stenosis group. According to the severity of atherosclerotic stenosis, patients were divided into mild group, moderate group and severe group. Clinical data and laboratory indicators were collected. Multifactorial regression was used to analyze the risk factors, Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between UHR and the degree of stenosis, and the predictive value of UHR for intracranial and extracranial atherosclerotic stenosis was analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic curve. Results A total of 388 patients were included. Among them, 291 cases in cerebral atherosclerotic stenosis group and 97 cases in no cerebral atherosclerotic stenosis group; 85 cases in the intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis group, 123 cases in the extracranial atherosclerotic stenosis group, and 83 cases in the intracranial and extracranial atherosclerotic stenosis group; There were 104 cases in the mild group, 81 cases in the moderate group, and 106 cases in the severe group. The results of multiple logistic regression analysis showed that age, hypertension, UHR and uric acid were independent influencing factors associated with atherosclerotic stenosis of intracranial and extracranial arteries. Furthermore, the uric acid and UHR were also risk factors for the degree of stenosis (P<0.05). Spearman correlation analysis results showed that UHR was positively correlated with the degree of stenosis (r=0.516, P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the predictive value of UHR (area under the curve was 0.724) was superior to that of uric acid (area under the curve was 0.638) or HDL-C (area under the curve was 0.709). It also showed good predictive value for stenosis in different locations of intracranial and extracranial arteries. Conclusion UHR is an independent risk factor for intracranial and extracranial atherosclerotic stenosis with notabla predictive value