The correlation of CD4+ T lymphocyte count and gingival bleeding index in HIV-positive patients

Objective To investigate the correlation of CD4 + T lymphocyte count and gingival bleeding index in HIV-positive patients.Methods Seventy-nine HIV-positive patients were selected according to inclusion criteria.Periodontal examination included plaque index(PLI) and gingival bleeding index(BI),and CD4 + T lymphocytes were counted.Results The BIs were 1-2 in 54.05%of patients with CD4200cells/mm~3,24 in 57.58%of patients with CD4 between 200-500cells/mm~3,0-1 in 55.56%of patients with500cells /mm~3 respectively.No correlation was found between CD4 cell counts and BI when all patients were evaluated.Positive correlations were observed between CD4 cell counts and BI for the subpopulations with CD4200cells/mm~3(r = 0.612,P = 0.000) and between 200—500 cells/ mm~3(r=0.353,P =0.048).The BIs in these two subpopulations were 1.410±0.791 and 1.904±1.201 respectively.The difference was statistically significant(P0.05 ).Conclusion Patients with CD4 cell counts500cells /mm~3 showed positive association between CD4 cell count and BI,and severely immunocompromised HIV-positive patients showed less severe ginginval inflammation than moderate ones.Patients with CD4 cell counts500cells /mm~3 showed no association between CD4 cell count and BI.