Hepatitis B virus DNA is more powerful than HBeAg in predicting peripheral T-lymphocyte subpopulations in chronic HBV-infected individuals with normal liver function tests

Figure 1 Correlation between peripheral T-cell subsets and serum HBV viral load. The numbers in the boxes refer to correlation coefficients. There is a negative correlation between the CD3⁺and CD4⁺ cells and CD4⁺/CD8⁺ ratio and serum viral load in CHI individuals with normal LFTs (r = -0.67, -0.54, -0.67; P < 0.0001), and a positive correlation between the levels of CD8⁺ cells and viral load (r = 0.61, P < 0.0001).