Proteomic characterization of IA phase versus IT phase of chronic HBV infection.(A) Heatmap of serum proteomic profiles in IA and IT phase patients. (B) Volcano plot representing the up- or down-regulated protein abundance changes in the pooled serum comparing IA and IT groups (1.2-fold change threshold and P < 0.05). (C) Heat map representation of differentially expressed proteins (fold change>1.5, P < 0.05) between IA and IT phase patients. (E and F) KEGG pathway and GSEA analyses of the 119 differentially expressed proteins in the pooled serum between IA and IT phase patients. (D and G) CD163, PSMA6, PSMB10, and PSMB6 expression in healthy controls and different phases of chronic HBV infection as assessed by ELISA. HC, healthy controls (black, n = 23); IT, immune-tolerant phase (red, n = 25); IA, immune reactive HBeAg-positive phase (blue, n = 23); IC, inactive HBV carrier state phase (orange, n = 26); ENH, HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B phase (green, n = 25). Each circle represents an individual sample. Data are presented as the mean ± SD. Unpaired t-test. ∗p < 0.05, ∗∗p < 0.01, ∗∗∗p < 0.001, ∗∗∗∗p < 0.0001.