Fig. 1. Phenotypic and functional characterization of T_FR and T_FH cells in HCV patients.

a Representative dot plots analysis of T_FR and T_FH cells by flow cytometry. PBMCs were first gated on lymphocytes, and then T follicular cells (CD4⁺CXCR5⁺), followed by gating the Foxp3 marker to differentiate T_FR (CD4⁺CXCR5⁺Foxp3⁺) and T_FH (CD4⁺CXCR5⁺Foxp3⁻) cells, respectively. The values in the quadrants indicate the percentages of the related subsets. b Summary data for the percentage of T follicular cell (CD4⁺CXCR5⁺) frequencies in HS (n = 12) versus chronically HCV-infected patients (n = 16), in both unstimulated and TCR-stimulated conditions. c Summary data for the percentage of Foxp3⁺ cells in CD4⁺CXCR5⁺ cells in HS (n = 12) versus HCV-infected patients (n = 16) versus DAA-treated HCV subjects with SVR (n = 8) in freshly isolated and TCR-stimulated PBMCs. d Summary data for the percentage of Foxp3⁻ cells in CD4⁺CXCR5⁺ cells in HS versus HCV-infected patients versus DAA-treated subjects with SVR in freshly isolated and TCR-stimulated PBMCs. e The ratio of T_FR/T_FH cells in HS versus HCV versus SVR in freshly isolated and TCR-stimulated PBMCs. f Representative dot plots and summary data for IL-21 expression in CD4⁺CXCR5⁺ T follicular cells. g Pooled data of IL-10 expression in CD4⁺CXCR5⁺ T follicular cells from HCV patients (n = 13) normalized by HS (n = 12). Each symbol represents an individual subject, and the horizontal bars represent median with interquartile. P value with significant difference is shown in each panel; NS no significance