Several studies have suggested that genetic factors may affect the susceptibility of a population to tuberculosis, and it has been found that P2X7 is linked to an increased risk for tuberculosis in some West African, Southeast Asian, North American, and North European populations. To explore the potential role of P2X7 in the susceptibility to tuberculosis among members of the Chinese Han population, we evaluated the association of the 1513A -> C and -762T -> C polymorphisms in P2X7 with the risk for tuberculosis. PCR amplification of genomic DNA was followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, and allele-specific PCR was used. We found no significant differences in the genotypic and allelic frequencies of 1513A -> C polymorphisms in 96 patients with tuberculosis compared with 384 control subjects [P=0.856 and 0.316, respectively; odds ratio (OR) for the C allele=0.976; 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.755-1.262]. Similarly, no significant association was found between the -762T -> C polymorphism and tuberculosis (P=0.102 and 0.095 for the patients and controls, respectively; OR for the C allele=0.924; 95% CI=0.847-1.010). Thus, our analysis of P2X7 showed that the 1513A -> C and -762T -> C polymorphisms did not appear to be associated with the susceptibility of the Chinese Han population to tuberculosis.