IFNα therapy leads to reduction in IL-7 plasma concentration.

<p>(A) IL-7 plasma levels were quantified in peripheral blood cells from acutely HCV-infected (light grey symbols), chronically HCV-infected (black symbols) and HIV/HCV co-infected (white symbols) patients at study entry, as compared to healthy donors (HCV-, dark grey symbols). **: p<0.001 for any HCV-infected patients group. (B) Evolution of plasma IL-7 levels over the first 4 months of IFNα therapy in acutely HCV-infected (left panels), chronically HCV-infected (central panels) and HIV/HCV co-infected (right panels) patients. Each line represents an individual patient. Statistical significances of the differences to baseline values (time 0), calculated on the absolute IL-7 plasma levels in each individual sample (Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test) are shown on top. (C) Soluble CD127 was quantified in plasma from acutely HCV-infected (white symbols, top panel), chronically HCV-infected (black symbols, top panel) and HIV/HCV co-infected (bottom panel) patients at baseline (0) and M2. (D) CD127 expression was measured on circulating CD4⁺ (top panel) and CD8⁺ (bottom panel) and expressed as mean fluorescence intensity (left panels) and percentages of positive cells (right panels) over the 4 first months of IFNα therapy.