Fig. 2

Study design and characteristics of study participants. (a) Schematic showing the overall study design. The study involved 146 PLWH who were grouped based on their age and whether they received HAART. Flow cytometry and multiple inflammatory cytokines were applied to their PBMCs and plasma, respectively. (b) The percentages and absolute numbers of CD4⁺T and CD8⁺T cells, the CD4/CD8 ratio, and viral load in PLWH stratified by age and HAART status. Flow cytometry was employed to assess the T cell count in PBMCs, while viral load was measured in plasma by qPCR. The data distribution is visually presented through violin plots. Statistical analyses were conducted using the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test, with significance levels denoted as: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; **** p < 0.0001. (c) The quantitative results of multiple inflammatory mediators in plasma samples determined by cytometric bead array. The data are expressed as means ± SDs and analyses were performed using Two-way ANOVA test. The heatmap utilizes color intensity to convey the p-values for pairwise comparisons. A green color indicates statistical significance at P < 0.05, while red signifies no significant difference (refer to the color bar). PBMCs: peripheral blood mononuclear Cells, sST2: soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2, sRAGE: soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products, sCD40L: soluble CD40 ligand, sFlt-1: soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1, TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-alpha, IL-6: interleukin-6, IL-18: interleukin-18, IL-10: interleukin-10, CCL2: chemokine ligand 2