ObjectiveTo systematically review the association between-174G/C polymorphism in interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene and the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). MethodsWe electronically searched PubMed, EMbase, CBM, WanFang Data, CNKI and VIP for case-control studies on the correlation between IL-6 gene-174G/C polymorphism and the risk of COPD. Two reviewers independently screened the studies according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and extracted data. Then meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.2 software. ResultsA total of 5 studies involving 487 COPD cases and 786 controls were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, there was no significant association between IL-6 gene SNP-174G/C and risks of COPD:GC+CC vs. GG:OR=1.01, 95%CI 0.76 to 1.34, P=0.95; CC vs. GC+GG:OR=1.04, 95%CI 0.70 to 1.54, P=0.85:CC vs. GG:OR=1.05, 95%CI 0.69 to 1.61, P=0.81; GC vs. GG:OR=1.00, 95%CI 0.74 to 1.35, P=0.99; C vs. G:OR=1.02, 95%CI 0.83 to 1.24, P=0.88. ConclusionIL-6-174G/C gene polymorphism may not be a risk factor that causes COPD.