Fig. 1

NK cell frequency and subset distribution in CHB patients. a NK cells were identified within PBMCs after gating of lymphocytes. CD56+CD3− NK cells were subsequently gated into CD56 bright and CD56 dim subsets by CD56 expression intensity. Percentages of total NK, CD56 dim and CD56 bright NK cells in total lymphocytes are shown. The data shown are representative of at least ten individuals from more than three independent experiments. b The frequency of total NK cells and their two subsets are shown for CHB patients (CHB) and healthy controls (HC). c The frequency of total NK cells and their two subsets in patients are shown for healthy controls (HC) and subgroups of the different clinical phases of CHB. d Distribution of CD56 dim and CD56 bright NK subsets, which are depicted as the frequency of CD56+CD3− NK cells. CHB chronic hepatitis B, HC healthy control, IA immune active, IT immune tolerance, IC inactive CHB, and GZ grey zone