Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) as a predictor of coronary artery disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background A converging epidemic of Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is observed over past two decades. LTBI is a state of persistent immune stimulation by Mycobacterium tuberculosis but with no active clinical manifestation. Also, there has been as increasing trend for incidence of cardiovascular problems in patients suffering from latent TB infection. Reportedly, the risk of coronary artery disease spikes up to 1.52 times in patient with latent TB infection. Considering the fact that cardiovascular diseases account to be leading cause of death globally, we found a dire need to investigate the role of Latent TB infection in producing coronary artery disease and unveil this unconventional relationship. Purpose We aim to conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate Latent TB infection as a predictor for coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods A systemic search was conducted on electronic databases (PubMed/Medline, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar) from inception to 24 th June 2022. Studies meeting predefined inclusion criteria underwent statistical analysis on Review Manager 5.4.1. We calculated odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and graphically represented it through fixed-effect forest plot. Heterogeneity of I 2 >75% and p-value of p Results Pooled analysis of four selected studies showed that patient with Latent TB infection significantly developed Coronary Artery Disease (OR = 2.15 [1.48, 3.12]; p I 2 = 0%). Conclusions Latent TB infection can be a potential useful predictor for Coronary Artery Disease. However, there is need for further investigation on a greater number of studies before this can truly become clear.