Figure 1

Increased frequency of Treg cells (CD4⁺CD127^loCD25^hiFoxP3⁺) and effector memory/effector CD4⁺ T cell subsets in peripheral blood of chronic HCV-infected patients. PBMCs were stained with T cell phenotyping markers (CD3, CD4, CD8, CD25, CD27, CD45RA, CD127 and FoxP3) and analyzed for T cells subsets by flow cytometric analysis. (A): Representative examples of the gating strategy that CD3⁺CD4⁺CD8^- T cells were divided into three subsets -CD127^-CD25^-, CD127⁺CD25^lo/- and CD127^loCD25^hi, based on expression of CD25 and CD127 or into four subsets- naïve, TCM, TEM and effector, based on expression of CD45RA and CD27. Additionally, more than 95% of CD127^loCD25^hi T cells were further gated as FoxP3⁺. (B): Comparison of CD4+ T cell subsets (CD127^-CD25^-, CD127⁺CD25^lo/- and CD127^loCD25^hi FoxP3⁺) in chronic HCV infection (dark grey boxes) and healthy controls (open boxes). (C): Comparison of CD4⁺ T cell subsets (naïve, central memory, effector memory and effector) based on expressions of CD45RA and CD27 in chronic HCV infection (dark grey boxes) and healthy controls (open boxes). Error bars illustrate s.d. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01.