Figure 2

The phenotype of circulating TFH cells was assessed in patients with chronic HBV infection and in HC. (A) The expression of ICOS, PD-1, CD40L and IL-21R by CXCR5⁺CD4⁺ T cells were detected by flow cytometry. At least 50,000 events were analyzed for each sample, and the data represent different groups of samples from at least two independent experiments. (B), (D), (F) and (H) Comparison of the percentages of ICOS⁺CXCR5⁺CD4⁺ T cells, PD-1⁺CXCR5⁺CD4⁺ T cells, CD40L⁺CXCR5⁺CD4⁺ T cells, and IL-21R⁺CXCR5⁺CD4⁺ T cells in the chronic HBV infection and HC groups. (C), (E), (G) and (I) Comparison of the percentages of ICOS⁺CXCR5⁺CD4⁺ T cells, PD-1⁺CXCR5⁺CD4⁺ T cells, CD40L⁺CXCR5⁺CD4⁺ T cells, and IL-21R⁺CXCR5⁺CD4⁺ T cells between the IT, IC, CHB(HBeAg+), CHB(HBeAg-) and HC groups. CHB¹, HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B; CHB², HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B. Each data point represents an individual subject. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01.