Fig. 2

Peripheral Blood Biomarkers in HCV patients according to the fibrosis score. a Frequency of circulating T-cell subsets (CD4⁺, CD8⁺, Treg and CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio) in HCV patients () categorized into subgroups referred as F1-2 () and F3-4 () as compared to uninfected controls (). b Levels of serum cytokines (IL-6, TNF, IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10 and IL-17). Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation for the percentage of gated lymphocytes for circulating T-cell subsets or serum concentration (MFI) for cytokines. Statistical analyses were performed by the Mann–Whitney test for comparisons between groups. Significant differences at P < 0.05 between HCV versus NI or F1-2 versus F3-4 are represented by connecting lines. Differences between HCV subgroups (F1-2 or F3-4) in comparison to NI are highlighted by “*”