Fig. 1: Comparative analysis of major blood immune cell subsets and serum IFNα and IFNλ2 concentrations in non-ECs, ECs, and HDs.

a PCA of data based on the proportion of different immune cell subpopulations (CD4⁺, CD8⁺, and TCR γδ Τ-cells, NKs, and DCs), evaluated by flow cytometry. Immune cell profiling was assessed by flow cytometry, as depicted in Supplementary Fig. 1. The first two principal components (PC1 and PC2) explaining the greatest differences among individuals are represented on a bi-plot. Each point represents one participant, with colors indicating the group: HDs (black), ECs (green), and non-ECs (red). Each group is outlined by an ellipse representing the 95% confidence interval of the sample groupings. b Histograms show distributions of indicated immune cell populations between HDs (black), ECs (green), and non-ECs (red). Analysis was done in 24 HDs, 16 ECs, and 26 non-ECs for all populations except for γδ T cells and DC (lin⁻HLA-DR⁺) (22 HDs, 12 ECs, 10 non-ECs). c Balloon plot summarizes the statistically significant changes in the indicated immune cell populations between ECs and HDs, non-ECs and HDs, and non-ECs and ECs. The size of the circle represents the p value. Red and blue indicate increased or decreased frequencies of immune cell populations. d Scatterplots show IFNα and IFNλ2 concentration in serum from HDs (n = 51), ECs (n = 18), and non-ECs (n = 26). IFNα and IFNλ2 levels were detected using SIMOA. e Scatterplot of relationships between IFNα and IFNλ2 serum levels (eI), CD4⁺T cells and IFNλ2 (eII), and CD8⁺T cells and IFNλ2 (eIII) in ECs (n = 18) and non-ECs (n = 26). Correlations were evaluated using Spearman’s rank correlation test. Multiple group comparisons were assessed using the Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn’s multiple comparison testing. Values are medians and p values (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001). Error bars on graphs represent interquartile ranges.