Results regarding the association between the interferon-y (lFN-y) +874A/T polymorphism and asthma risk are controversial and ambiguous. The aim of this study was to determine with greater precision the relationship between the IFN-gamma+874A/T polymorphism and asthma using a meta-analysis.Published literature was retrieved from 5 databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Wanfang, China National Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI] and Weipu). ORs with 95% Cls were used to assess the strength of association.Ten case-control studies involving 697 cases and 1049 controls were identified. In the overall analysis, a significant association between the +874A/T polymorphism and asthma susceptibility was found for AA vs AT + TT (OR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.37-2.62; P=.0001). In the subgroup analysis by ethnicity, significant associations were found among whites (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.04-1.93; P=.03) and Asians (OR, 2.52; 95% CI, 1.49-4.25; P=.0006). The sensitivity analysis and cumulative meta-analysis further strengthened the validity of this association. No publication bias was observed in this study.The results of this meta-analysis suggest that the IFN-gamma +874A/T polymorphism is a risk factor for asthma.