Association of MBL2 gene polymorphisms with pulmonary tuberculosis susceptibility: trial sequence meta-analysis as evidence Raju K Mandal,1,* Munawwar Ali Khan,2,* Arif Hussain,3 Sajad A Dar,1 Sultan Aloufi,4 Arshad Jawed,1 Mohd Wahid,1 Aditya K Panda,5 Mohtashim Lohani,6 Naseem Akhter,7 Saif Khan,8 Bhartendu Nath Mishra,9 Shafiul Haque1 1Research and Scientific Studies Unit, College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 3School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 4Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, Saudi Arabia; 5Centre for Life Sciences, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India; 6Department of Emergency Medical Services, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Al Baha University, Al Baha, Saudi Arabia; 8Department of Basic Sciences, College of Dentistry, University of Ha’il, Ha’il, Saudi Arabia; 9Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) or mannose-binding protein (MBP), encoded by MBL2 gene and secreted by the liver, activates complement system through lectin pathway in innate immunity against the host’s infection. Conflictingly, a number of MBL2 variants, rs1800450 (A>B), rs1800451 (A>C), rs5030737 (A>D), rs7096206 (Y>X), rs11003125 (H>L), and rs7095891 (P>Q) allele, have been found to be associated with compromised serum levels and pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) susceptibility. The present meta-analysis study was performed to evaluate the potential association of these MBL2 gene variants with PTB susceptibility.Materials and methods: A quantitative synthesis was performed on PubMed (Medline), EMBASE, and Google Scholar web database searches. A meta-analysis was performed to calculate the pooled odds ratios and 95% CIs for all the genetic models.Results: A total of 14 eligible studies were included to analyze their pooled data for associations between alleles, genotypes, and minor allele carriers. The statistical analysis revealed the significant reduced PTB risk with homozygous variant genotype of rs1800451 polymorphism (CC vs AA: