Fig. 2

Distribution of distinct cytokine profiles in CHB patients with different disease phases. a Correlations among ten cytokines, IFN-γ⁺, TNF-α⁺ and IL-2⁺ CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells and IFN-γ⁺ and TNF-α⁺ NK and NKT cells, were measured by Spearman correlation. P <  0.05 was colored, and pseudocolors indicate correlation levels from negative (− 1) to positive (1), ranging from a weak (white) to strong (red or blue) association strength. b Summary of percentages of patients in the IT, IA, IC and GZ phases grouped by altered applicable parameters. There were individuals with up to 6 altered applicable parameters in the IA group, and the number in the IC was 4, IT only 2, GZ however, 5 representing an intermediate state. c Representative image of principal component analysis based on CD4_TNF-α⁺, CD8_IL-2⁺, NK_IFN-γ⁺. Each circle represents a single patient and different colors identify different patient categories (IT, IC, IA and GZ patients in red, brown, green and blue, respectively)