The CD4/CD8 ratio is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) in elderly Chinese patients

- The ratio of CD4 to CD8 was significantly correlated with the prevalence of CAD in Chinese elderly patients.
- The ratio of CD4 to CD8 was significantly increased in CAD patients compared with control patients.
- After adjusting for different clinical parameters , the risk of CAD was significantly increased in patients with a CD4/CD8 ratio > 1.5.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between number of circulating T cells and coronary artery disease (CAD) in an elderly Chinese population.Methods: A total of 295 elderly inpatients (age ≥ 60) were included in this cross-sectional study. Their clinical and biochemical characteristics were recorded. Patients were divided to two groups: control patients and CAD patients. The risk factors of CAD were explored by binary logistic regression analysis.Results: Compared with control patients, the ratio of CD4 to CD8 T cells was significantly increased in CAD patients. There was no difference in the number of CD3, CD4, and CD8 T cells between the two groups. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that CAD was independently associated with age, gender, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), chronic heart failure (CHF) and the CD4/CD8 ratio. In addition, after adjusting for different clinical parameters (including gender, age, CHF, hypertension, arrhythmia, SBP, and BMI), the risk of CAD was significantly increased in patients with a CD4/CD8 ratio > 1.5.Conclusions: There was a strong and independent association between the ratio of CD4/CD8 and CAD in elderly Chinese population.