Background and purpose: Serotoninergic dysfunction was reported to be involved in aetiology of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Serotonin (5-HT) is actively cleared from synaptic cleft by serotonin transporter (5-HTT). We investigated the association between three common polymorphisms of 5-HTT gene, which may influence gene expression or function, and risk for TLE. Methods: Three hundred and thirty-four patients with TLE and four hundred and eighty-seven non-epileptic control subjects from Han Chinese origin were enrolled for the present study. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method was used for genotyping. Results: 10-repeat allele frequency of 17 bp variable number of tandem repeats in the second intron (5-HTTVNTR) was moderately higher in patients with TLE than in controls (9.1% vs. 6.1%, P = 0.0187, OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.07-2.26). Conclusion: Our study suggested 10-repeat allele of 5-HTTVNTR may be associated with TLE susceptibility.