Given the evidence suggesting that ATG5 and ATG16L1 significantly affected the pathogenic mechanism and development of sepsis and several related SNPs contributed to the risk of inflammatory diseases, we carried out this hospital-based case-control study to ascertain whether the genetic polymorphisms of ATG5 (rs510432, rs506027 and rs548234) and ATG16L1 (rs10210302 and rs2241880) were associated with sepsis in a Chinese Han population. The gene discussed is ATG5; the disease is Sepsis.