Figure 3. Occupational HBV exposure induces HBcore- and HBVpol-specific CD8 T cells.
The prevalence (left graphs) and the strength (right graphs) of HBV-specific CD8 T cell responses were determined against (A) HBcore peptides, (B) HBVpol peptides and (C) HDV control peptides in 90 vaccinees, who were stratified by post-vaccination HBV exposure score, and in 24 non-vaccinated patients, who had recovered from acute HBV infection. Results were obtained by intracellular cytokine staining. Mean ± SEM are indicated. Statistical analysis: Chi-Square and Fisher’s Exact test were used to compare the prevalence of responses (left graphs). The nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparison was used to compare the strength of responses (right graphs).