Hepatic microenvironment underlies fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B patients

Figure 2 Profiling of inflammatory factors and growth factors in liver samples from patients with hepatitis B virus infection. A: qPCR of inflammatory factors; and B: Growth factors in hepatitis B virus patients with advanced fibrosis (S3-4, n = 16) compared to patients with less fibrosis (S0-1, n=16). Values presented are expressed as the means ± SE; P value < 0.05 was considered significant; ^aP < 0.05; ^bP < 0.01; ^cP < 0.001; ns: Non-significant. IL-1β: Interleukin 1β; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor alpha; TGF-β1: Transforming growth factor β1; PDGF: Platelet-derived growth factor; CTGF: Connective tissue growth factor.