Thus, different distributions of exhausted T cell subsets at baseline time points may contribute to the different results found in these earlier studies.11 22 Interestingly, while we observed a correlation of the metabolic state of HCV-specific CD8+ T cells with liver inflammation that is intertwined with viral replication and antigen recognition, we did not observe such a correlation with liver inflammation in chronic HBV infection. The gene discussed is CD8A; the disease is inflammatory response.