ObjectiveTo explore the correlation between -765G/C polymorphism of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene and the risk of ischemic stroke (IS). MethodsPubMed, CBM, The Cochrane Library (Issue 3, 2015), CNKI, CBM, VIP and WanFang Data were searched from inception to March 2015 to collect case-control or nested case-control studies about -765G/C polymorphism of COX-2 gene and the risk of IS. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1 software and Stata 12.0 software. ResultsA total of 10 studies involving 2611 cases and 18589 controls were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, there was no correlation between -765G/C polymorphism and the risk of IS (GC+CC vs. GG: OR=1.05, 95%CI 0.88 to 1.25, P=0.620; CC vs. GG+GC: OR=1.04, 95%CI 0.83 to 1.30, P=0.730; GC vs. GG: OR=1.04, 95%CI 0.87 to 1.25, P=0.630; CC vs. GG: OR=1.09, 95%CI 0.86 to 1.36, P=0.480; C vs. G: OR=1.03, 95%CI 0.89 to 1.20, P=0.700). Subgroup analysis results showed that, the COX-2 gene -765G/C polymorphism was a risk factor for IS in African-Americans (GC+CC vs. GG: OR=1.42, 95%CI 1.12 to 1.78, P=0.003; GC vs. GG: OR=1.39, 95%CI 1.09 to 1.78, P=0.008; CC vs. GG: OR=1.51, 95%CI 1.04 to 2.18, P=0.030; C vs. G: OR=1.27, 95%CI 1.08 to 1.51, P=0.004), but not in Asians and Caucasians. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that -765G/C polymorphism of COX-2 gene may be a genetic risk factor for IS in African-Americans, but not in Asians and Caucasians. Due to the limited quantity and quality of the included studies, more high quality studies are needed to verify the above conclusion.