The purpose of this study was to examine whether interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) (promoter and exon 5) gene polymorphisms were markers of susceptibility or clinical manifestation in Chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The study included 52 Chinese patients with SLE. In addition, 103 unrelated healthy individuals living in central Taiwan served as control subjects. From genomic DNA, polymorphisms of the gene for IL-1beta promoter and exon 5 were typed. Allelic frequencies were compared between SLE patients and control subjects. The relationship between allelic frequencies and clinical manifestations of SLE was evaluated. No significant differences were observed in the allelic frequencies of the IL-1beta promoter and IL-1beta exon 5 between patients with SLE and healthy control subjects. Additionally, we did not detect any association of IL-1beta promoter and the exon 5 genotype with the clinical and laboratory profiles in SLE patients. The results from the present study suggest that the polymorphisms of the IL-1beta promoter and IL-1beta exon 5 are not related to SLE patients in Taiwan.