ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Recently, many studies have been conducted to investigate the relationship between the A46G polymorphism in the ?2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) gene and essential hypertension risk in the Chinese population. However, the results of previous studies were conflicting. OBJECTIVES:The present study aimed to investigate the association between the ADRB2 A46G polymorphism and the risk of essential hypertension in the Chinese population. METHODS:We performed a systematic search of possible relevant studies on PubMed, Embase, Ovid, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and China Biology Medicine disc databases up to January 3, 2020. Two authors independently extracted information from included articles and assessed the quality of each study by the use of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. According to the extent of interstudy heterogeneity, either a random-effect model or a fixed-effect model was used to calculate the combined odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS:Finally, 16 studies containing 3390 cases and 2528 controls were included in our meta-analysis. Significant associations were found between the ADRB2 A46G polymorphism and essential hypertension risk in the Chinese population under four genetic models: allele genetic model (OR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.06-1.23, P?=?.001, Pheterogeneity?=?.09), homozygote genetic model (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.11-1.51, P?=?.001, Pheterogeneity?=?.25), dominant genetic model (OR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.05-1.32, P?=?.005, Pheterogeneity?=?.04), and recessive genetic model (OR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.05-1.38, P?=?.007, Pheterogeneity?=?.72). CONCLUSION:The ADRB2 A46G polymorphism may increase the risk of essential hypertension in the Chinese population.