CD8A and sarcoidosis: The major findings in our study are: 1) independently of presence of clinical symptoms, a significantly increased number of BAL fluid lymphocytes and an increased ratio of CD4/CD8 T cells compared with healthy subjects were found; 2) patients with sarcoidosis-related clinical symptoms had significantly higher BAL fluid lymphocytes count and CD4/CD8 ratio compared with asymptomatic patients; 3) the number of BALF total cells and lymphocytes of patients previously treated with systemic corticosteroids was lower compared with non-treated patients.