Figure 1: Hepatic NK cells are deactivated in HBV-infected patients with liver cirrhosis.

(a) Representative dot plots depicting the proportion of total CD3⁻CD56⁺ NK cells and CD56^bright and CD56^dim NK subsets in liver-infiltrating lymphocytes (LILs) among CHB and LC patients and HC subjects. The numbers indicate the percentages of NK cells within CD45⁺ live lymphocytes (left line) or within CD3⁻CD56⁺ total NK cells (right line). (b–e) Pooled data showing the percentages of hepatic and peripheral total NK cells (b), CD56^bright NK subsets (c), CD56^dim NK subsets (d) and CD56^bright and CD56^dim ratio (e) in the three indicated groups (for liver, n = 13 for HC, n = 29 for CHB, n = 18 for LC; for peripheral blood, n = 38 for HC, n = 36 for CHB, n = 43 for LC). Each dot represents one individual. The horizontal lines indicate the mean values. P-values shown in the figures are based on two-tailed, unpaired Student’s t-test. (f–i) Summary data show the percentages of hepatic (f and h) and peripheral (g and i) CD3⁻CD56⁺ NK cells that express NK receptors, such as NKp30, NKp44, NKp46, NKG2A, NKG2D, CD158a and CD158b (f and g), and activation and function markers, such as TRAIL, HLA-DR, CD38, CD69, perforin, and Granzyme A and B (h and i) among the three groups of subjects (for liver, n = 6 for HC, n = 22 for CHB, n = 7 for LC; for peripheral blood, n = 18 for HC, n = 32 for CHB, n = 35 for LC). The data are shown as the means, and the error bars represent the SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001, two-tailed, unpaired Student’s t-test.