Fig. 1

Circulating MAIT cell frequency was reduced in patients with ALD. A Gating strategy to identify mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells. Flow cytometry analysis of MAIT cells in human blood using CD3⁺CD161⁺Vα7.2⁺. B MAIT cells were depleted in patients with alcoholic fatty liver disease (n = 4), alcoholic cirrhosis (n = 29), mixed cirrhosis (n = 29), and in those who were binge drinker (n = 34) and heavy drinkers without overt liver diseases (n = 11), compared with HCs (n = 88). C MAIT cells were stained with the MR1 tetramer and T-cell receptor beta (TCR-β). No significant differences were observed between the two strategies (p = 0.065). D Percentage and constituent ratio of CD8⁺, CD4⁺, and double negative (DN) MAIT cells in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis, mixed cirrhosis, and HCs. E No significant differences were observed in MAIT cell frequency in alcoholic cirrhosis patients, who either did (n = 23) or did not (n = 10) abstain from alcohol consumption. Data are presented as the Mean ± SEM and analyzed by the paired-sample t-test, two-sample t-test, Welch’s analysis of variance (ANOVA) test, ANOVA test, LSD test, and Games-Howell test. HC, healthy control; HDC, heavy drinking controls (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; NS. p > 0.05)