Changes in circulating Foxp3+ regulatory T cells and interleukin-17-producing T helper cells during HBV-related acute-on-chronic liver failure

Figure 2 Dynamic cytokine milieu for interleukin-17-producing T helper cells and Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells in patients with hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure. The gene expression of pro-th17 cytokines showed higher levels throughout the hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACHBLF) event compared with HCs, especially for IL-6 and IL-1β (A and C). FoxP3 gene expression was up-regulated gradually during ACHBLF events (G). Data are presented as whisker-box plots. Boxes represent the interquartile range, with the median represented by the line inside the box. Upper whisker, the highest value less than or equal to the 75 percentile plus 1.5 times interquartile range; lower whisker, the lowest value greater than or equal to the 25 percentile minus 1.5 times interquartile range. Outliers were excluded. Differences between different time points were analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis test and with HCs by the Mann-Whitney test. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01 vs HC; ^cP < 0.05, ^dP < 0.01 vs recovery group.