AbstractObjectiveThis study investigated the relationship between the glucocorticoid‐induced transcript 1 (GLCCI1) gene variant and the degree of improvement in lung function with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS).MethodsWe searched the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CBM, CNKI and Wanfang databases to obtain studies on theGLCCI1rs37973 variant and the efficacy of ICS in asthma.ResultsThe overall meta‐analysis showed that patients with the GG phenotype (mutant homozygotes) exhibited significantly smaller forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1) change than patients with the AG phenotype (mutant heterozygous) (MD = −0.08, 95% CI [−0.12, −0.03],P= 0.001). Compared with the AA phenotype (wild homozygotes), the GG phenotype (MD = −4.23, 95% CI [−6.09, −2.38],P< 0.00001) and AG phenotype (MD = −1.92, 95% CI [−2.35, −1.49],P< 0.00001) had significantly smaller FEV1%pred changes. The FEV1 change subgroup analysis showed that the GG phenotype group was smaller than the AA phenotype group at 8 (MD = −0.53, 95% CI [−0.91, −0.14],P= 0.007), 12 (MD = −0.16, 95% CI [−0.30, −0.02],P= 0.02) and 24 (MD = −0.09, 95% CI [−0.17, −0.01],P= 0.02) weeks of treatment; the GG phenotype group was smaller than the AG phenotype group at 12 weeks (MD = −0.08, 95% CI [−0.15, −0.01],P= 0.02).ConclusionThis meta‐analysis suggests that theGLCCI1rs37973 variant affects the efficacy of ICS and that the presence of the G allele attenuates the improvement in lung function with ICS.