ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association between -1082A/G polymorphism in interleukin-10 (IL-10) gene and ischemic stroke (IS) risk by meta-analysis. METHODS: We carried out a systematic electronic search in PubMed, BIOSIS Previews, Science Direct, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Database, Weipu database and WANGFANG Database. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated to assess the strength of the association. RESULTS: 7 studies were included. There was no significant association between IL-10 -1082A/G polymorphism and IS risk under all genetic models in overall estimates (A vs. G: OR?=?1.23,95%CI?=?0.85-1.79;AA vs. GG: OR?=?1.01,95%CI?=?0.47-2.19; AG vs. GG: OR?=?0.76, 95%CI?=?0.38-1.55; AA+AG vs. GG: OR?=?0.89,95%CI?=?0.46-1.73; AA vs. AG+GG: OR?=?1.39, 95%CI?=?0.91-2.13). Similarly, no associations were found in subgroup analysis based on ethnicity and source of controls. However, removing the study deviating from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) produced statistically significant associations for overall estimates under recessive model(AA VS. AG+GG OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.04-2.42) and among Asians in all genetic models (A VS.G OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.07-2.53; AA vs. GG OR1.91, 95% CI 1.31-2.80; AG vs. GG OR1.44, 95% CI 1.09-1.91; AA+AG vs. GG OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.18-2.01;AA VS. AG+GG OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.07-3.00). Even after Bonferroni correction, the associations were observed still significantly in Asians under the two models (AA vs. GG OR1.91, 95% CI 1.31-2.80, P?=?0.0008; AA+AG vs. GG OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.18-2.01, P?=?0.001). CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis indicates that IL10 -1082 A/G polymorphism is associated with IS susceptibility in Asians and the -1082 A allele may increase risk of IS in Asians. Considering the sample size is small and between-study heterogeneity is remarkable, more studies with subtle design are warranted in future.