The CD4/CD8 ratio in vitreous fluids is of high diagnostic value in sarcoisosis

Sarcoidosis is an idiopathic inflammatory disorder involving multiple organs, and ocular manifestation is one of the common features. A well-known immunological feature in sarcoidosis is an increased CD4+ helper T cell type 1 lymphocyte subset in BALF. In this study, we investigated the vitreous lymphocyte subsets of sarcoidosis to elucidate the immunological features of this disorder in the eye. Our study enrolled 86 sarcoidosis patients. Diagnoses included 53 eyes with definitive sarcoidosis (D-S) of 41 patients, 60 eyes with suspected sarcoidosis (S-S) of 45 patients. Vitreous samples from the uveitis patients were analyzed with flow cytometry. Our result presented that the CD4/CD8 ratio was high in the D-S/S-S in the vitreous samples. Moreover, a high CD4⁺ population indicated sarcoidosis uveitis. Therefore, diagnostic vitrectomy using flow cytometric analysis may be a useful adjunct for the diagnosis of sarcoidosis, particularly in complex cases.