• Kun Liu, Zhi-Qun Cai, and Bi-Tong Wu.
• Guangzhou Municipal Hospital of Chest Medicine, Guangzhou 510095, China. liukun009@vip.sohu.com
• Nan Fang Yi Ke Da Xue Xue Bao. 2007 Aug 1;27(8):1239-40, 1243.

ObjectiveTo explore the characteristics of cellular immunity in drug abusers with pulmonary tuberculosis.MethodsSixty drug abusers with pulmonary tuberculosis and 60 non-drug abusers with pulmonary tuberculosis (control) were enrolled in this study. Three days after establishment of a definite diagnosis, peripheral blood was taken from the patients for lymphocyte subgroup (CD3(+), CD3(+)/CD4(+), CD3(+)/CD8(+) T lymphocyte subgroups and NK cells) examination by flow cytometry, and the CD4(+)/CD8+(+) ratio was calculated. The difference of cellular immunity between the drug abusers and control group was analyzed statistically.ResultsCD3(+) and CD3(+)/CD4(+) T lymphocytes subgroups and NK cells of the drug abusers were significantly lower than those of the control patients (P=0.037, 0.028 and 0.015), and the former patients had also significantly lower CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratio (P=0.021). The pulmonary tuberculosis types and CD3(+)/CD8(+) T lymphocyte subgroup were not significant different between the two groups (P=0.053 and 0.85).ConclusionDrug abuse might depress cellular immunity in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, which further complicate the treatment of this disease.

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