Some genetic association studies have tried to investigate potential associations between TLR polymorphisms and tuberculosis. However, the results of these studies have not been consistent. Thus, we performed the present meta-analysis to explore associations between TLR polymorphisms and tuberculosis in a larger combined population. A systematic literature research of PubMed, Web of Science and Embase was performed to identify eligible studies for combined analyses. I2 statistics were employed to assess between-study heterogeneities. If I2 was >50%, random-effects models were used to combine the data. Otherwise, fixed-effects models were applied for synthetic analyses. A total of 39 genetic association studies were included in the analyses. The combined analyses showed that TLR1 rs4833095, TLR1 rs5743557, TLR1 rs5743596, TLR2 rs3804099, TLR2 rs5743704, TLR2 rs5743708, TLR6 rs5743810 and TLR8 rs3764879 polymorphisms were significantly associated with susceptibility to TB in the overall population. Further subgroup analyses revealed similar significant findings for TLR1 rs4833095, TLR1 rs5743557, TLR1 rs5743596, TLR1 rs5743618, TLR2 rs3804099, TLR2 rs5743704, TLR2 rs5743708, TLR4 rs4986790 and TLR4 rs4986791 polymorphisms in certain ethnicities. In conclusion, our findings support that these TLR polymorphisms may be used to identify individuals at high risk of developing tuberculosis.
Keywords: TLR; ethnicities; gene polymorphisms; meta-analysis; tuberculosis (TB).