To address the possibility that miR-125a-5p contributes to increased proportion of Th1 cells in HT patients, peripheral Th1 cells were first gated on CD3+ CD8− cells as CD4+ T cells, owing to the downregulated expression of surface membrane CD4 molecules on human PBMCs after stimulation with PMA and ionomycin (15), and then IFN-γ+ cells were quantified by flow cytometric analysis (Figure 7A). Here, CD8A is linked to hematocrit.