The CD4+ T lymphocyte is used in disease staging in both HIV and Tuberculosis/HIV co infection. Its cost and technical requirements have necessitated search for alternative tests. The search for a cheaper surrogate for the CD4+ T lymphocytes count is imperative in resource limited settings dependent on donor funding as ours necessitated this study. Materials and method: The study subjects were new patients who presented to Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) Zaria during the study

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... period. They underwent clinical evaluation, relevant investigations. Those found to be co infected with TB/HIV further had CD4+ T lymphocytes count, beta-2-microglobulin (β2M) and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rates (ESR) evaluated and were consecutively included in the study. HIV negative tuberculosis patients and normal persons served as controls. Findings: Seventy five study subjects were included in the study. Their mean CD4+ count was 178 ± 116.81 cells/ul., serum beta -β2M level was 3.29mg/L, tuberculin skin test (TST) reaction was 5 ±6.7mm and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was 67.88 ± 37.32mm/hr, which were statistically significantly different from the TB only and controls. Conclusion and recommendation: The ESR and the TST reaction had weak and moderate predictive values for CD4+ count respectively. The association is too weak for these to be recommended as surrogates for CD4+ T lymphocytes count and progression in HIV/TB co infected patients.