The hepatic NK cells population and IFN-γproduction were decreased respectively at 2, 4, 12 weeks post E. multilocularis inoculation, but at 24th week after infection no change was observed (Fig. 1a, b, c, d), while TNF-α and granzyme B levels had no significance in designated time points (Additional file 2: Figure S1). The gene discussed is GZMB; the disease is infection.