IL7 and lymphopenia: Surprisingly, while lymphocytopenia established, IL-7 plasma concentrations significantly decreased in both groups of HCV-infected patients (30, 54, 18 and 29% decrease at M1 to M4 in acute infection, p<0.05; 25, 46, 26 and 16% decrease at M1 to M4 in chronic infection, p<0.05; Figure 4B left and central panels).