BACKGROUND. Periodontal regeneration is the reconstruction of periodontal tissues and restoration of functions, which is achieved through techniques, such as soft tissue grafts, guided tissue regeneration, bone replacement grafts, root bio-modification, and a combination of these techniques. Chitosan is a natural biopolymer with several beneficial properties, including excellent biocompatibility, low toxicity and corresponding degradation rates and hemostatic activities. This systematic review assessed the efficacy of biopolymer membrane (chitosan) for guided tissue regeneration (GTR) in animal and human studies. MATERIAL AND METHODS. The Cochrane Oral Health Group specialist trials, PubMed, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases were searched for articles published before January 2017. Animal and human studies that used chitosan for GTR, which had a follow-up period of ≥6 weeks and 6 months, respectively, were retrieved. The following outcomes were analyzed: new bone (NB) and new cementum (NC) formation for animal studies and probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level changes for human studies. RESULTS. After a full-text review,six animal studies and three human studies were found to be eligible for this study. All included animal and human studies demonstrated that the use of chitosan for GTR exerts a positive effect on periodontal defects. Subgrouping meta-analysis outcomes of three dog studies revealed that GTR with pure chitosan membranes has a positive effect on NB (14.36%) and NC (10.21%) formation. CONCLUSION. Within the limitations of the present study, there is little evidence to demonstrate the efficacy of chitosan for GTR either in animal or human studies. Chitosan should rather be used as an adjunct component for membrane production.