Objective To systematically review the correlation between CYP3A5 genotypes and blood levels of tacrolimus (FK506) in renal transplant recipients. Methods Such databases as PubMed (January 1966 to July 2013), Sciverse (January 1823 to July 2013), The Cochrane Library (Issue 7, 2013), CNKI (January 1994 to July 2013), VIP (January 1989 to July 2013), CBM (January 1978 to July 2013) and WanFang Data (January 1995 to July 2013) were electronically searched for studies about the correlation between CYP3A5 genotypes and FK506 (blood concentration/dose-respones relationship) in renal transplant recipients. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, literature was screened, data were extracted, and the methodological quality of included studies was also assessed. Then, meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2 software. Results A total of 12 articles involving 956 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, after renal transplantation, there was a high dose-adjusted concentration of CYP3A5 3/3 carriers on the 7th day (MD= 54.61, 95%CI –67.67 to –41.54, Plt;0.000 01), in the 1st month (MD= –74.84, 95%CI –83.39 to –66.29, Plt;0.000 01), in the 3rd month (MD= –96.09, 95%CI –107.55 to –84.64, Plt;0.000 01), in the 6th month (MD= –107.30, 95%CI –125.65 to –88.95, Plt;0.000 01), and in the 1st year (MD= –78.32, 95%CI –123.02 to –33.61, P=0.000 6). The dose-adjusted concentration of FK506 in CYP3A5 3/3 patients was higher than the other genotypes, while the dose-adjusted concentration of FK506 in CYP3A5 1/1 patients was low. Conclusion The blood concentration as well as dose-respones relationship of FK506 are associated with CYP3A5 genotype in renal transplant recipients. We propose that patients with renal transplantation should receive CYP3A5 genotypes test to determine the use of FK506 as an immunosuppressant, so as to guide its clinical application.