Abstract: Objective To investigate the relationship between genetic polymorphism of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB). 
Methods CNKI, WanFang, Pubmed and Web of Science databases were searched to collect studies on relationship between IL-6-174G/C (rs1800795), -572G/C(rs1800796) and susceptibility to TB until March 2024. Data were screened independently by two researchers using uniform inclusion criteria, and Meta-analysis was performed using STATA12.0. Combined odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were used to evaluate the correlation strength. 
Results Finally, 15 case-control studies were included, including 2 416 people in the TB group and 3 060 people in the healthy group. The results of Meta-analysis showed that the polymorphism of IL-6-174G/C was associated with the risk of TB infection ［C vs. G: OR=0.66，95%CI: 0.59-0.75, P＜0.001; CC+CG vs. GG: OR=0.67, 95%CI: 0.57-0.78, P＜0.001; CC vs. GC+GG:OR=0.48, 95%CI: 0.29-0.82, P=0.007; CC vs. GG: OR=0.38, 95%CI: 0.27-0.52, P＜0.001; CG vs. GG: OR=0.75, 95%CI: 0.63-0.88, P＜0.001］. IL-6-572G/C polymorphism was significantly associated with TB infection in the allele model (C vs. G)［ C vs. G:OR=0.87, 95%CI: 0.76-0.99, P=0.038］; however, it was not associated with the incidence of TB in the other four models ［CC+CG vs. GG: OR=0.72, 95%CI: 0.51-1.01，P=0.054; CC vs. GC+GG: OR=1.28, 95%CI: 0.61-2.72, P=0.512; CC vs. GG: OR=0.95, 95%CI: 0.54-1.67，P=0.867; CG vs. GG: OR=0.68, 95%CI: 0.46-1.02, P=0.060］. 
Conclusion The 174G＞C and 572G＞C polymorphisms of the IL-6 gene may decrease the risk of TB development. 

Key words: tuberculosis, interleukin-6, Meta-analysis