Contrary to what we had hypothesized, patients with HT had a significant reduction in Tfr/Tfh ratio (p = 0.0338) (Fig. 1C), rather than an increase, as reported for pSS, an autoimmune disease which also has predominant target-organ (i.e., salivary/lacrimal gland) involvement14. This evidence concerns the gene TFRC and hematocrit.