Objective：To explore the changes in levels of angiogenic T lymphocyte（Tang）in the peripheral blood of rats exposed to chronic intermittent hypoxia（CIH）during early atherosclerotic vascular changes. Methods：Healthy adult Sprague Dawley（SD）rats were randomly divided into two groups：the normal feeding group（RA group）and the chronic intermittent hypoxia group（IH group）， with the IH exposed to intermittent hypoxia for 8 h per day for a total of 6 weeks. The intermittent hypoxia pattern was set to repeat every 2 min，with 40 s of nitrogen gas to reduce the oxygen concentration from 21% to 8% and stabilize for 20 s，followed by normal air to restore the oxygen concentration to 21% for 40 s and maintain for 20 s. After modeling，levels of Tang and endothelial progenitor cells （EPC）were measured by flow cytometry. Levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol（HDL-C），low-density lipoprotein cholesterol （LDL -C），triglycerides（TG），total cholesterol（TC），and homocysteine（Hcy）were measured by ELISA. pathological changes were observed in HE stained pathological sections of the thoracic aorta. Results：Flow cytometry results showed that compared to the RA group，the levels of Tang in rats of the IH group were significantly elevated[（22.975±1.866）% vs.（15.713±1.746）%，P ＜ 0.001]，and there was no statistical difference in EPC levels[（0.040±0.028）% vs.（0.028±0.012）%，P ＞ 0.05]；H E staining results showed that the IMT of rats thoracic aorta in the IH group was significantly increased compared to the RA group[（121.275 ± 30.896）μm vs. （84.075±7.452）μm，P ＜ 0.05]；ELISA results showed that the Hcy level in the IH group was significantly higher compared to the RA group[（6.2±0.6）μmol/L vs.（ 5.5±0.6）μmol/L，P ＜ 0.05]，but there were no statistical differences in HDL -C，LDL -C，TC，and TG levels. Conclusion：Early atherosclerosis occurs in the blood vessels of CIH rats and the levels of Tang elevated，suggesting that the level of Tang is related to the occurrence and development of early atherosclerosis.