Growing evidence has shown that inflammation plays crucial roles in the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). Interleukin-16 (IL-16), a multifunctional cytokine, is involved in a series of inflammatory disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between IL-16 polymorphisms and risk of CAD. We analyzed two polymorphisms of IL-16 (rs4778889 T/C and rs11556218 T/G) in 157 patients with CAD and 202 healthy controls by using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and DNA sequencing methods. The TG/GG genotypes of rs11556218 T/G were associated with a significantly increased risk of CAD as compared with the TT genotype (odds ratio = 1.77; 95% confidence intervals, 1.16-2.71). This finding indicates that IL-16 may be used as a genetic marker for CAD susceptibility.