The average percentage of CD4 and CD8 T cells expressing HLA-DR was significantly higher in podoconiosis patients compared to healthy controls (P < 0.001 with median of 10.7% vs 7.1% for HLA-DR on CD4 and 23.4% vs 15.8% for HLA-DR expression on CD8 cells, respectively). Here, CD4 is linked to podoconiosis.