BackgroundIL-6 is a pleotropic cytokine that acts as a pro-inflammatory mediator and acute-phase response inducer, but has also been reported to possess anti-inflammatory properties. The objective of this study was to assess the validity of serum IL-6 test for diagnosis of asthma.MethodsA literature search was conducted using PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane library from January 2007 to March 2021 to identify relevant studies. Eleven studies were included in this analysis, involving 1977 patients with asthma and 1591 healthy non-asthmatic controls. The meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.3 software and Stata 16.0. Random effect model or fixed effect model (FEM) was used to estimate the standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsThe meta-analysis results revealed that the serum IL-6 levels were higher in asthmatic patients than healthy non-asthmatic controls (SMD 1.31, 95% CI 0.82–1.81, P < 0.00001). IL-6 levels are significantly elevated in pediatric patients with asthma (SMD 1.58, 95% CI 0.75–2.41, P = 0.0002) and mildly elevated in adult patients with asthma (SMD 1.08, 95% CI 0.27–1.90, P = 0.009). In addition, a subgroup analysis of asthma disease status showed that IL-6 levels were increased in stable (SMD 0.69, 95% CI 0.28–1.09, P = 0.009) and exacerbation asthma (SMD 2.15, 95% CI 1.79–2.52, P < 0.00001) patients.ConclusionThe results of this meta-analysis suggest that serum IL-6 levels were significantly elevated in asthmatic patients as compared to normal population. IL-6 levels can be used as an auxiliary indicator to distinguish individuals with asthma from healthy non-asthmatic controls.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13223-023-00794-3.