Fig. 5. Resolution of HCV infection can be predicted by decreased proportions of NKp46⁺ NKp30⁺ and CD161⁺ NK cells at the time of acute infection.

The dot plots compare the proportions of NK cells expressing the indicated surface receptors (A) or both NKp30 and NKp46 (B) between study subjects identified during acute HCV infection who subsequently developed a chronic disease (■) and subjects who subsequently resolved the infection (■). Horizontal lines indicate the median percentages. Differences where p < 0.05 are indicated. (C) Representative primary flow panels show percentages of CD161⁺ CD56^bright, CD161⁺ CD56^dim and CD161⁺ CD56^neg NK cells for an HCV acute infection which subsequently became chronic, an HCV acute infection which was subsequently cleared, a chronic, and a resolved HCV infection.