Abstract: OBJECTIVE To analyze the risk factors for latent tuberculosis infection in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis and observe the predictive values of regulatory T lymphocyte (Treg) and helper T lymphocyte 17(Th17). METHODS The clinical data were retrospectively collected from 119 rheumatoid arthritis patients who were treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Shihezi University from Jan 2021 to Aug 2022. The enrolled patients were divided into the infection group with 32 cases and the no infection group according to the status of complication with latent tuberculosis infection. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed for the risk factors for the latent tuberculosis infection in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The values of Treg, Th17 and Th17/Treg in prediction of latent tuberculosis infection were analyzed by means of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS Among the 119 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 32 were complicated with latent tuberculosis infection, with the infection rate 26.89%. Invasive procedure, daily use of high dose of hormone within 1 year and low T value of bone mineral density were the independent risk factors for the latent tuberculosis infection in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis(P＜0.05). The levels of peripheral blood Treg, Th17 and Th17/Treg of the infection group were higher than those of the no infection group(P＜0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the joint detection of Treg, Th17 and Th17/Treg had high clinical value in prediction of latent tuberculosis infection in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis, the area under curve (AUC) was 0.903, with the sensitivity 80.46%, the specificity 90.62%, the sensitivity 90.62%. CONCLUSION The incidence of latent tuberculosis infection is high among the patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The risk factors include the invasive procedure, daily use of high dose of hormone within 1 year and T value of bone mineral density. The joint detection of Treg, Th17 and Th17/Treg has high value in prediction of latent tuberculosis infection in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis.