Abstract: Objective   To study the effect of CD4⁺ T lymphocytes on serum albumin in the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.  Methods  119 smear- and culture-positive patients with initially treated pulmonary tuberculosis were detected T lymphocyte subsets and serum albumin. According to the count for CD4⁺ T lymphocytes, they were divided into two groups: 62 patients in poor immunity group and 57 patients in normal immunity group.  We study the effect of poor cellar immunity on hypoproteinemia in the patients.  Results （1）CD4⁺ T lymphocyte count［（516.6±266.1）×10⁹/L］was positive relationship with CD3⁺［（841.6±398.8）×10⁹/L］, CD8⁺［（261.0±142.6）×10⁹/L］, and CD4⁺/CD8⁺ T lymphocyte ratio（2.33±1.40）（r=0.883，P=0.000; r=0.579，P=0.000; r=0.365，P=0.000. （2）CD4⁺ T lymphocyte count was positive relationship with the serum albumin（r=0.116，P=0.033）. （3）There were 43 patients with focus over 4 fields in the poor immunity group, which were significantly higher than those in the normal immunity group（χ²=11.335，P=0.001）. And the level of serum albumin in the poor immunity group was also significantly lower ［（33.9±5.5）g/L］than that in the normal group［（36.1±5.7）g/L］（t=2.187，P=0.031）. Conclusion   CD4⁺ T lymphocyte count is positive relationship with the level of serum albumin in the patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The pulmonary tuberculosis patients with less CD4⁺ T lymphocytes had usually more extensive lesions, and were easy to suffer the hypoproteinemia. 

Key words: Tuberculosis, pulmonary/immunology, CD4-positive T-lymphyocytes, Serum albumin