Table 1.
Between-group comparisons of immune factor profiles in adults with hepatitis C virus (HCV+, n = 39) and without (HCV−, n = 40)
| Factor (abbreviation) | Units | LDC1 | HCV+ % ≥ LDC2 | HCV− % ≥ LDC2 | z-value3 | P-value3 | HCV+ median (IQR)4 | HCV− median (IQR)4 | P-value4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2Macro) | mg/mL | 0.0204 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 0.633 (0.169) | 0.514 (0.181) | <0.001*** |
| Alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) | mg/mL | 0.0029 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 1.020 (0.250) | 0.891 (0.235) | 0.002** |
| Beta-2-microglobulin (B2M) | μg/mL | 0.0581 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 0.928 (0.294) | 0.653 (0.236) | <0.001*** |
| Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) | ng/mL | 0.0197 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 5.070 (2.790) | 5.290 (2.170) | 0.164 |
| Complement C3 (C3) | mg/mL | 0.0035 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 0.373 (0.139) | 0.395 (0.098) | 0.239 |
| C-reactive protein (CRP) | μg/mL | 0.0231 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 0.536 (0.871) | 1.310 (2.009) | 0.004** |
| Eotaxin-1 | pg/mL | 100.0000 | 92 | 83 | 1.31 | 0.189 | 197.000 (95.000) | 167.000 (88.300) | 0.317 |
| Factor VII | ng/mL | 2.8000 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 687.000 (231.000) | 564.500 (217.000) | 0.017* |
| Fibrinogen | mg/mL | 0.0176 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 2.980 (0.720) | 2.950 (0.940) | 0.673 |
| Ferritin (FRTN) | ng/mL | 2.4900 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 73.100 (110.500) | 59.200 (72.430) | 0.027** |
| Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) | pg/mL | 8.9300 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | >0.999 | <0.001 (<0.001) | <0.001 (<0.001) | 0.039* |
| Haptoglobin | mg/mL | 0.0071 | 95 | 100 | 1.43 | 0.152 | 0.478 (0.499) | 0.325 (0.462) | 0.344 |
| Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) | ng/mL | 2.3900 | 100 | 98 | 1.00 | 0.317 | 160.000 (96.000) | 81.750 (25.700) | <0.001*** |
| Interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) | pg/mL | 1.8800 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | >0.999 | <0.001 (<0.001) | <0.001 (<0.001) | 0.355 |
| Interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1α) | ng/mL | 0.0073 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | >0.999 | <0.001 (<0.001) | <0.001 (0.001) | 0.491 |
| Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) | pg/mL | 1.7900 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | >0.999 | <0.001 (<0.001) | <0.001 (<0.001) | >0.999 |
| Interleukin-10 (IL-10) | pg/mL | 1.3900 | 74 | 43 | 3.00 | 0.003** | 2.530 (2.240) | 1.090 (1.900) | 0.007** |
| Interleukin-12 subunit p40 (IL-12p40) | ng/mL | 0.1120 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | >0.999 | <0.001 (<0.001) | <0.001 (<0.001) | >0.999 |
| Interleukin-12 subunit p70 (IL-12p70) | pg/mL | 23.1000 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | >0.999 | <0.001 (<0.001) | <0.001 (<0.001) | 0.806 |
| Interleukin-15 (IL-15) | ng/mL | 0.4400 | 72 | 60 | 1.10 | 0.271 | 0.782 (0.571) | 0.506 (0.782) | 0.118 |
| Interleukin-17 (IL-17) | pg/mL | 6.5800 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 1.980 (2.050) | 1.980 (1.340) | 0.823 |
| Interleukin-18 (IL-18) | pg/mL | 12.9000 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 176.000 (101.000) | 111.50 (54.700) | <0.001*** |
| Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) | pg/mL | 125.0000 | 0 | 3 | 1.00 | 0.317 | <0.001 (54.900) | <0.001 (43.000) | 0.597 |
| Interleukin-2 (IL-2) | pg/mL | 7.9000 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | >0.999 | <0.001 (<0.001) | <0.001 (<0.001) | 0.373 |
| Interleukin-23 (IL-23) | ng/mL | 0.8180 | 21 | 15 | 0.63 | 0.526 | <0.001 (0.647) | <0.001 (0.623) | 0.128 |
| Interleukin-3 (IL-3) | ng/mL | 0.0201 | 3 | 0 | 1.50 | 0.133 | <0.001 (<0.001) | <0.001 (<0.001) | 0.022* |
| Interleukin-4 (IL-4) | pg/mL | 18.0000 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | >0.999 | <0.001 (<0.001) | <0.001 (<0.001) | 0.584 |
| Interleukin-5 (IL-5) | pg/mL | 3.4700 | 5 | 5 | 0.03 | 0.979 | <0.001 (<0.001) | <0.001 (<0.001) | 0.979 |
| Interleukin-6 (IL-6) | pg/mL | 4.1150 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 1.250 (1.670) | 1.040 (1.425) | 0.026* |
| Interleukin-7 (IL-7) | pg/mL | 7.6400 | 15 | 8 | 1.09 | 0.275 | <0.001 (4.160) | <0.001 (4.160) | 0.588 |
| Interleukin-8 (IL-8) | pg/mL | 1.8800 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 8.470 (5.600) | 5.520 (2.440) | <0.001*** |
| Monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1) | pg/mL | 4.7800 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 112.000 (47.800) | 98.100 (53.700) | 0.224 |
| Macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha (MIP-1α) | pg/mL | 22.9000 | 44 | 13 | 3.23 | 0.001*** | 21.200 (16.000) | 9.630 (17.380) | <0.001*** |
| Macrophage inflammatory protein-1 beta (MIP-1β) | pg/mL | 12.2000 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 142.000 (76.000) | 103.500 (56.000) | 0.006** |
| Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) | ng/mL | 6.0100 | 3 | 0 | 1.00 | 0.318 | 1.540 (2.420) | 0.575 (1.540) | 0.085 |
| Matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) | ng/mL | 0.0507 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 2.840 (1.850) | 2.985 (2.057) | 0.914 |
| Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) | ng/mL | 20.7000 | 10 | 13 | 0.31 | 0.757 | 9.350 (16.100) | 3.405 (16.100) | 0.353 |
| T-Cell-specific protein regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) | ng/mL | 0.0592 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 9.200 (6.220) | 10.400 (4.295) | 0.135 |
| Stem cell factor (SCF) | pg/mL | 97.8000 | 90 | 80 | 1.21 | 0.228 | 144.000 (72.000) | 125.000 (37.000) | 0.069 |
| Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1 (TIMP-1) | ng/mL | 3.8300 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 56.200 (27.400) | 45.450 (8.800) | <0.001*** |
| Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) | pg/mL | 1.0300 | 82 | 55 | 2.68 | 0.008** | 1.690 (1.040) | 1.210 (1.910) | 0.003** |
| Tumor necrosis factor beta (TNF-β) | pg/mL | 61.3000 | 3 | 0 | 1.00 | 0.318 | <0.001 (<0.001) | 0.336 (<0.001) | 0.719 |
| Tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) | ng/mL | 0.3680 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 3.770 (1.480) | 2.480 (0.880) | <0.001*** |
| Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) | ng/mL | 1.7060 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 417.000 (180.000) | 283.500 (104.000) | <0.001*** |
| Vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP) | μg/mL | 5.6200 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 165.000 (164.300) | 170.000 (116.300) | 0.953 |
| Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) | pg/mL | 9.0700 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 176.000 (61.000) | 159.500 (53.000) | 0.103 |
| von Willebrand Factor (vWF) | μg/mL | 0.1410 | 100 | 100 | 0.00 | >0.999 | 29.800 (15.600) | 21.700 (13.200) | <0.001*** |
1
The LDC is defined as the mean ± 3 standard deviations (SDs) of 20 blank readings as provided by Myriad Rules Based Medicine, Inc.
2
Percentage of adults within each group with levels ≥ LDC are reported. For regression modeling, analytes detected in 5% or fewer of samples were excluded from analyses. These excluded analytes are shown in italics.
3
The percentages of immune factors ≥ LDC were compared across groups with tests of two proportions, and the z and P-values are reported.
4
Between-group comparisons of plasma immune factor levels were computed with Mann–Whitney U-tests, and the medians and interquartile ranges (IQRs) within each group are reported.
*P ≤ 0.050; **P ≤ 0.010; ***P ≤ 0.001. Shading denotes immune factors that remained significantly different between groups following a Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, ***P ≤ 0.001.