Several previous studies have evaluated the association between rs1149048 
polymorphism in the matrilin-1 gene (MATN1) and the risk of adolescent 
idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). However the results of those studies were 
inconsistent. We conducted this meta-analysis to assess whether rs1149048 
polymorphism was involved in the risk of AIS and evaluated the associations in 
different ethnicities. Electronic databases, such as: PubMed, EMBASE, WANFANG 
databases in any languages up to Dec 2012 were searched to assess the 
association between rs1149048 polymorphism and AIS. Meta-analysis was performed 
by STATA 12.0 software to estimate the pooled odds ratio (OR) and the 95 % 
confidence interval (CI). Finally four papers including five studies which 
involved 1436 AIS patients and 1,879 controls were identified for this 
meta-analysis. The results showed that G allele of the rs1149048 was 
significantly associated with increased AIS risk [OR = 1.13, 95 % CI 
(1.02-1.25), P = 0.023]. As for genotype (GG vs. GA + AA), homozygous GG 
genotype was also found to be a risk factor of developing AIS. The subgroup 
meta-analysis results showed G allele and GG genotype were significantly 
associated with AIS in Asian group but not in Caucasian group. Neither Egger's 
test nor Begg's test found evidence of publication bias in current study (P > 
0.05). In summary, this meta-analysis found an overall significant association 
of rs1149048 polymorphism with risk of AIS, especially in Asian population. The 
relationship between rs1149048 polymorphism and AIS in other ethnic population 
is needed to be investigated.