BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported inconsistent results on the association between serum baseline high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and in-stent restenosis (ISR) after coronary stenting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched for studies without language restriction in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane library before June 2012. Inverse random weighted meta-analysis was carried out using logarithm of the odds ratio of ISR with its SE to assess the strength of association in each study. RESULTS: Eight observational studies involving 422 ISR and 1113 non-ISR patients were eligible for our analysis. Overall, there was no association between baseline HDL-C levels and ISR (odds ratio: 1.00, 95% confidence interval: 0.96-1.04). The heterogeneity was not significant between individual studies (P=0.074, I=44.0%) and no publication bias was detected. A sensitivity analysis further confirmed the robustness of results. A similar association was detected in the subgroups with bare metal stent and drug-eluting stent implantation. CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis suggests that serum baseline HDL-C levels are not associated with ISR.