Distribution and longitudinal changes in the NK cell subsets. (A) The dot plot represents the proportion of total NK cells (including CD3^negCD56^brightCD16^neg, CD3^negCD56^dimCD16^pos, and CD3^negCD56^negCD16^pos) for subjects with acute infection, all groups with chronic infection, and control subjects without HIV-1 infection. (*The percentage of NK cells was significantly [P < .05 using ANOVA] increased in individuals with acute HIV-1 infection). (B) The whisker box plots represent the proportion of each subset of CD3^negCD56^brightCD16^neg (▧), CD3^negCD56^dimCD16^pos (▦), and CD3^negCD56^negCD16^pos (□) NK cells for all groups with chronic HIV-1 infection, control subjects, and subjects with acute HIV-1 infection. Numbers indicate the median percentage. (C) Whisker box plots depict the distribution of the 3 NK cell subsets after 1 year of follow-up for 5 subjects that received antiretroviral therapy in acute HIV-1 infection and 5 subjects that remained off therapy. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals about the mean.