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Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease ›› 2026, Vol. 7 ›› Issue (2): 211-220.doi: 10.19983/j.issn.2096-8493.20250201

• Original Articles • Previous Articles    

Meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of Mycobacterium vaccinae in the adjunctive therapy of elderly pulmonary tuberculosis

Xu Gang1, Wang Reqin2, Li Jianghong3(), Yang Qi4, Qiao Xiaowei5   

  1. 1 The Personnel Section, Tianshui Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gansu Province, Tianshui 741000, China
    2 Endemic Disease Prevention and Control Section, Tianshui Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gansu Province, Tianshui 741000, China
    3 General Office, Tianshui Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gansu Province, Tianshui 741000, China
    4 Tuberculosis Prevention and Control Section, Tianshui Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gansu Province, Tianshui 741000, China
    5 Tuberculosis Prevention and Control Section, Lanzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730000, China
  • Received:2025-12-18 Online:2026-04-20 Published:2026-04-13
  • Contact: Li Jianghong E-mail:Lijianghong1999@163.com
  • Supported by:
    Gansu Provincial Scientific Research Public Health Program Project from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(GSJKKY2025-29)

Abstract:

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Mycobacterium vaccinae in the adjuvant treatment of elderly pulmonary tuberculosis. Methods: The China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang data base, VIP data base, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase were searched for randomized controlled trials on Mycobacterium vaccae as an adjunctive therapy for elderly pulmonary tuberculosis conducted in China from January 1998 to December 2024. Two reviewers screened the literature and used the Cochrane risk of bias tool to evaluate the methodological quality of the included studies. Results: One hundred and thirty-two randomized controlled clinical trial publications were initially retrieved. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 24 articles were finally included, including 2291 subjects. Among these, 1177 subjects received Mycobacterium vaccae as an adjunctive therapy (experimental group), while 1114 subjects did not (control group). The meta-analysis results showed that the sputum culture conversion rate at the 2nd month (76.41% (758/992)), sputum culture conversion rate at the end of treatment (91.92% (831/904)), lesion absorption/improvement rate (84.87% (909/1071)), and cavity closure rate (65.37% (402/615)) were significantly superior to those in the control group (55.66% (531/954), 77.28% (670/867), 63.92% (645/1009), 45.36% (264/582), respectively). The relative risk ratios (RR (95%CI)) for failure to achieve conversion/mprovement/cavity closure were 1.39 (1.27-1.53), 1.23 (1.05-1.42), 1.33 (1.21-1.45), and 1.42 (1.28-1.56), respectively. The incidence of adverse reactions in the expremental group (11.62% (76/654)) was significantly higher than that in the control group (8.00% (50/625)), with a relative risk (RR (95%CI)) of 1.47 (1.09-1.97)). Conclusion: Mycobacterium vaccae has a good adjunctive therapeutic effect in elderly patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Further high-quality randomized controlled clinical trials are recommended to determine the optimal duration dosage and potential drug interactions.

Key words: Mycobacterium vaccae, Aged, Tuberculosis, pulmonary, Therapies, investigational, Meta-analysis as topic

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