Tuberculosis (TB), caused by infection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is a major challenge to global public health. The SP110 (Speckled 110) gene, which is considered as a host genetic susceptibility to TB, has been widely studied in recent years, yet the results were somewhat contradictory and indeterminate. We systematically searched published literatures on SP110 polymorphisms and tuberculosis risk until January 2012 in relevant databases, selected studies by previously defined criteria, extracted key data and quantitatively summarized associations of the most extensively studied polymorphisms through meta-analysis. A total of 10 624 subjects from seven case-control studies were included in the present study. In overall meta-analysis, pooled odds ratio of polymorphisms rs1135791, rs9061, rs11556887, rs3948464, rs1346311 were 1.01 (95% CI: 0.71-1.44), 0.86 (95% CI: 0.70-1.04), 0.99 (95% CI: 0.67-1.47), 1.29 (CI: 0.89-1.89) and 0.95 (CI: 0.86-1.04) respectively; the summary odds ratio of sensitivity analysis specifically on pulmonary TB were 1.02 (95% CI: 0.65-1.54) for rs1135791, 0.84 (95% CI: 0.68-1.02) for rs9061, 0.88 (95% CI: 0.57-1.36) for rs11556887, 0.94 (95% CI: 0.85-1.04) for rs1346311; and in the ethnicity stratified analysis, the estimated odds ratio were 0.97 (95% CI: 0.54-1.73) for rs1135791 and 0.86 (95% CI: 0.70-1.04) for rs9061 among Asians. None of the target polymorphisms in SP110 gene observed in the present quantitative synthesis was detected to be significantly associated with TB susceptibility. Given the moderate strength of the results, the complexities of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary host genetic polymorphisms, gene-gene and gene-environment interactions, and the cross-species difference between human and mice, it would not be robust to remark that SP110 has no role in TB progress.
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