A reappraised meta-analysis of the genetic association between vitamin D receptor I (rs1544410) polymorphism and pulmonary tuberculosis risk.

I (rs1544410) polymorphism located in intron 8 at the 3'-end of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene is known to be involved in the regulation of mRNA stability. Many studies evaluated the possible correlation between VDR I polymorphism and the risk of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), and reported conflicting results. In the present study, an updated meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the above-said association. PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar web-databases were searched for the relevant studies and a meta-analysis was performed by calculating pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for all the genetic models. A total of 19 studies comprising 3644 controls and 2635 cases were included in the present study. Overall no association of PTB in allelic contrast (b compared with B: =0.285; OR =0.909, 95% CI =0.762-1.083), homozygous (bb compared with BB: =0.881; OR =0.975, 95% CI =0.700-1.359), heterozygous (bB compared with BB: =0.834; OR =1.017, 95% CI =0.872-1.185), dominant (bb compared with BB + Bb: =0.451; OR =0.954, 95% CI =0.843-1.079) and recessive (bb + Bb compared with BB: =0.983; OR =1.002, 95% CI =0.868-1.156) genetic models in comparison with wild-type allele and genotype BB were observed. However, variant allele (b compared with B: =0.001; OR =2.289, 95% CI =1.661-3.154) showed increased risk of PTB in Asians. In conclusion, VDR I polymorphism is not a risk factor for PTB in overall population. However, this polymorphism may be interrelated to an increased risk of PTB amongst Asians.