Association between latent tuberculosis infection and assisted reproductive outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Tuberculosis (TB) is a common cause of infertility in humans, especially in regions with high TB prevalence. However, the impact of latent TB infection (LTBI) on pregnancy outcomes following assisted reproduction in patients with infertility remains unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess significant differences in pregnancy outcomes after assisted reproduction between infertile patients with and without LTBI.

DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis using the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach.

DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched from inception to 1 September 2025.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Case-control or cohort studies comparing assisted reproduction outcomes between infertile patients with and without LTBI, diagnosed via tuberculin skin test or interferon-gamma release assay, were included. Outcomes of interest were clinical pregnancy rate, miscarriage rate and live birth rate.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Two independent reviewers used standardised methods to search, screen and code included studies, extracted data and assessed study quality using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Meta-analysis was performed using a fixed-effects model. Heterogeneity was evaluated with the I² statistic. Sensitivity analysis was performed using the leave-one-out method, and publication bias was assessed using funnel plots and Egger's test.

RESULTS: Four studies met the inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. The included studies showed low heterogeneity for clinical pregnancy rate (I²=45.9%), miscarriage rate (I²=0%) and live birth rate (I²=8.9%). The miscarriage rate was significantly higher in the LTBI group than in the non-LTBI group (OR 1.14; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.31; p=0.049). No significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of clinical pregnancy rate (OR 0.98; 95% CI 0.91 to 1.06; p=0.692) and live birth rate (OR 0.96; 95% CI 0.88 to 1.04; p=0.305). Sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the miscarriage rate outcome. Publication bias was low for clinical pregnancy and miscarriage rates but potential bias was detected for live birth rate (Egger's test p=0.029). The overall certainty of evidence was rated as low due to the observational nature of included studies and limited number of studies.

CONCLUSIONS: Infertile patients with LTBI might have a higher miscarriage rate after assisted reproduction compared with non-LTBI patients, although no differences were observed in clinical pregnancy or live birth rates. These results, particularly regarding miscarriage, should be interpreted with caution due to the limitations of the available evidence. Further high-quality studies are needed to strengthen the evidence base.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42024605623.