MMP2 and fibrosis: While high MMP-2 and TIMP-1 levels have been associated with severity of liver fibrosis, [28, 29] in this cohort levels did not differ by viral hepatitis co-infection status (data not shown).While we did not observe an association between circulating LOXL2 levels and circulating CD4+ T lymphocyte counts, the circulating CD4+ cells pool is derived from a number of tissues that may not be affected/equally affected by fibrosis, preventing a strong correlation.