The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between IL-1 gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to severe periodontitis in Chinese of the Han Nationality.Methods : DNA samples with buccal swabs were collected from 30 pa2 tients with severe adult periodontitis (AP) , 20 patients with rapid progressive periodontitis (RPP) and 94 healthy control (HC) in2 dividuals. Polymorphisms in the IL-1 gene cluster were analyzed with PCR-RFLP. Results : It was found that the frequency of IL-1B + 3953PTaq I allele 2 was significantly higher in severe AP patients ( OR = 6. 8 , P