The cohort of 112 patients with DN was stratified according to the immunostaining results of CD4 in biopsied specimens as either high-CD4 group (n = 56, median semi-quantitative CD4 expression: 24.4%) or low-CD4 group (n = 56, median semi-quantitative CD4 expression: 7.9%). Here, CD4 is linked to liver dysplastic nodule.