Absolute eosinophil count correlates with temperature and CD4 count independently of HIV infection among tuberculosis...

To determine clinical correlates of the peripheral absolute eosinophil count (AEC) among bacteriologically confirmed TB patients in Uganda.

We evaluated data of bacteriologically confirmed adult TB patients who had a peripheral blood AEC measurement at the National TB Treatment Center in Uganda during a cross-sectional study. We performed linear regression analysis for correlates of log-transformed AEC.

We included 235 patients in this analysis with a median (interquartile range, IQR) age of 31 (24-39) years. 60.4% were male, and 33.6% had TB/HIV co-infection. In a multivariable linear regression model that controlled for age, residence type, HIV status, weight loss, anorexia, body mass index, CD8+ T-cell count, haemoglobin level and TB bacillary load, males had a 47.0% higher AEC than females (adjusted coefficient (R² ) = 0.385, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.012-0.759 P = 0.043). Also, a 1 °C raise in temperature resulted in an 11.5% decrease in the AEC (R²  = -0.122 95% CI (-0.233 to -0.011) P = 0.031) while a 1 cell/mm³ increase in the CD4+ T-cell count resulted in a 0.10% increase in the AEC (R²  = 0.001 95% CI (0.000-0.001) P = 0.032).

The AEC was higher among males than females, consistent with the normal population distribution of AEC among Ugandans. The AEC was weakly but positively correlated with the CD4 count and negatively correlated with temperature.