Fig 2: Flow cytometry results demonstrate that the ratio of CD4+CXCR5+/CD4+ and CD4+CXCR5+ICOS+/CD4+ CXCR5+ in the spleen tissues was significantly increased in the asthma group compared with the control group. Data are presented as the mean ± standard error of the mean. C, control group; A, asthma group; CD4, cluster of differentiation 4; CXCR5, C-X-C chemokine receptor type 5; ICOS, inducible T-cell costimulator; PE, phycoerythrin; FITC, fluorescein isothiocyanate.

Fig 3: Western blot analysis to compare the expression levels of proteins associated with TFH cells (BCL-6, ICOS, ICOSL, CXCR5 and IL-21) in the control and asthma groups, with ß-actin as the control. TFH, follicular helper T; BCL-6, B cell lymphoma 6; ICOS, inducible T-cell COStimulator; ICOSL, ICOS ligand; CXCR5, C-X-C chemokine receptor type 5; IL-21, interleukin-21.