Relative difference in telomere length between CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ within healthy controls and AIM patients.

PBMCs were stained with CD4-biotin or CD8-biotin followed by strep-Cy5, fixed, and then processed for flow-FISH using the telomeric PNA-FITC probes. Telomere length in these populations was determined by measuring the MFI of the telomere probe and the cells gated as described in Figure 1B. To assess the differences in telomere length between CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes within healthy controls and patients, MFI of telomere staining of the CD8⁺ T cells was subtracted from that of the CD4⁺ population. A positive value indicates that CD4 cells have longer telomeres compared to CD8 T cells and vice versa. Each patient sample was processed simultaneously with a healthy control sample. Squares represent healthy controls; triangles represent AIM patients. The horizontal lines show the mean difference in relative telomere length between CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells for each group. The P value indicates the statistical significance as determined by the Mann-Whitney test.