Aim To assess the possible association between cellular repressor of the interleukin-17(IL-17F)His161Arg polymorphism and myocardial infarction(MI)in a Han Chinese population.Methods We conducted a case-control association study on a cohort of 1 068 unrelated MI patients and 985 age and sex-matched controls to investigate the association between the IL-17F His161Arg polymorphism and MI risk in a Chinese Han population.Results The genotype frequencies of TT,TC and CC in the IL-17F His161Arg polymorphism were 76.3%,17.9% and 5.8% in MI group,75.8%,16.6%,and 7.6% in the controls respectively(P>0.05).The T allele frequency of IL-17F His161Arg polymorphism allele in MI cases and controls were 85.3% and 84.2% respectively(P>=0.33).Further stratification analysis by gender or age and analysis of clinical features in relation to myocardial infarction also yielded negative results(P>0.05).Conclusion This study indicates the IL-17F His161Arg polymorphism is unlikely to be a major contributor to the pathogenesis of MI.