Immunogenetic and molecular biomarkers in COVID-19 and hepatitis C virus infection: Evaluating the diagnostic potential of HLA (rs1131500), IGF-2, and I-FABP

Figure 2 Heatmap showing the expression profiles of pro-inflammatory cytokines (insulin-like growth factor 2 [IGF-2], intestinal fatty-acid-binding protein [I-FABP], and interferon-gamma IFN-γ]) in A: Dual hepatitis C virus-coronavirus disease 2019 group; B: Coronavirus disease 2019 group; and C: Hepatitis C virus group. Each row represents an individual patient sample, and each column represents a cytokine. Color intensity reflects relative expression levels, with red indicating higher expression and blue indicating lower expression. Hierarchical clustering was applied to both samples and cytokines to highlight patterns and similarities in cytokine expression across the cohort. IFN: Interferon; IGF: Insulin-like growth factor; I-FABP: Intestinal fatty-acid-binding protein.