T cell exhaustion markers in hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma: Expression patterns and prognostic significance in an Egyptian cohort

Table 6 Correlations with disease severity in cirrhosis patients

Parameter	MELD		Child-Pugh		AFP
	r1	P value	r1	P value	r1	P value
CD4/PD-1 (%)	0.926	< 0.001a	0.557	< 0.001a	0.142	0.324
CD8/PD-1 (%)	0.910	< 0.001a	0.566	< 0.001a	0.150	0.296
CD4/TIGIT (%)	0.919	< 0.001a	0.565	< 0.001a	0.138	0.339
CD8/TIGIT (%)	0.927	< 0.001a	0.565	< 0.001a	0.142	0.324
CD4/TIM-3 (%)	0.917	< 0.001a	0.565	< 0.001a	0.140	0.331
CD8/TIM-3 (%)	0.883	< 0.001a	0.565	< 0.001a	0.144	0.315
CD3 (%)	0.932	< 0.001a	0.563	< 0.001a	0.146	0.307
CD4 (%)	0.916	< 0.001a	0.562	< 0.001a	0.141	0.329
CD8 (%)	0.914	< 0.001a	0.562	< 0.001a	0.142	0.324
CD4/CD8 ratio	-0.901	< 0.001a	-0.562	< 0.001a	-0.145	0.309

¹r: Pearson correlation coefficient for normally distributed variables (CD4/programmed death 1, CD8/ programmed death 1, CD4/T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain, CD8/T cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain, CD4/T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3, CD8/T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD4/CD8 ratio, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease); Spearman correlation coefficient for non-normally distributed variables (alpha-fetoprotein, Child-Pugh class). Correlations adjusted for age and sex using partial correlation to control for demographic confounders.

^aP < 0.001.

Etiology controlled by study design (hepatitis C virus genotype 4 for hepatocellular carcinoma patients, confirmed by quantitative hepatitis C virus polymerase chain reaction targeting 5’ untranslated region). PD-1: Programmed death 1; TIGIT: T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain; TIM-3: T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing protein 3; MELD: Model for End-Stage Liver Disease; AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein.