Aim To investigate the effect and significance of programmed cell death 4 （PDCD4） abnormal expression of CD4＋T lymphocytes in patients with unstable angina pectoris during perioperative period of percutaneous coronary intervention （PCI）. Methods A total of 62 unstable angina patients were enrolled. Of the 62 patients, 33 patients undergoing PCI were involved as PCI group, the other 29 patients without PCI were set as control group. Peripheral blood was extracted before and after coronary angiography or PCI. Circulating CD4＋T cells were obtained by magnetic cell sorting system （MACS） at baseline and 18 h～24 h post-PCI. Real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction （RFQ-PCR）, Western blot analysis, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） were used to evaluate the levels of PDCD4 mRNA in CD4＋T lymphocyte, the expression of PDCD4 protein and also the serum level of tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）. Results Compared to the control group, the post-operative expression of PDCD4 mRNA and protein dramatically increased in the PCI group （P<0.05）. Compared to the pre-operation, the serum level of TNF-α was increased in 18 h～24 h post-operation in the PCI group （16.11±1.45 ng/L vs 7.60±0.75 ng/L P<0.05）. As to the level of TNF-α in the control group, no significant change was found （P>0.05）. Conclusions The expression of PDCD4 was increased in patients with unstable angina pectoris undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, which contributed to the intensive inflammation response in the myocardial level after PCI.