Table 3 Inflammatory outcomes after atorvastatin treatment or placebo

Sputum differential

cell count &

proportion (%)

Total cell count (×10 ⁴ )

651.5

(547.0, 890.5)

620.8

(543.2, 758.8)

628.5

(533.5, 921.5)

602.0

(512.0, 791.0)

43.0

(-75.2, 161.1)

p = 0.469

607.8

(517.0, 785.5)

658.5

(563.2, 860.2)

-81.6

(-177.2,14.0)

p = 0.093

Macrophage (×10 ⁴ )

Macrophage %

154.5

(111.5, 263.0)

38.4

(29.6, 61.3)

179.8

(87.2, 242.2)

45.1

(31.8, 58.7)

159.5

(132.0, 221.0)

45.5

(31.5, 58.9)

142.5

(81.0, 220.0)

38.5

(24.6, 54.6)

16.9

(-27.5, 61.3)

p = 0.450

4.8

(-5.9, 15.5)

p = 0.374

173.2

(126.2, 247.2)

41.4

(34.1, 54.9)

174.2

(122.8, 250.5)

44.2

(32.3, 59.0)

-3.0

(-47.6, 41.6)

p = 0.893

-0.5

(-9.6, 8.6)

p = 0.913

Neutrophil (×10 ⁴ )

Neutrophil %

131.0

(76.0, 232.5)

37.8

(18.3, 54.2)

122.8

(56.2, 201.2

29.9

(15.0, 49.1)

136.5

(61.0, 233.5)

33.6

(18.2, 55.8)

99.0

(69.5, 299.5)

31.5

(17.6, 63.2)

-19.2

(-72.0, 33.6)

p = 0.470

-4.7

(-15.7, 6.4)

p = 0.401

151.8

(80.5, 211.5)

38.3

(23.0, 52.8)

149.0

(78.2, 229.0)

34.9

(20.7, 49.5)

-8.0

(-49.4, 33.4)

p = 0.700

2.1

(-8.0, 12.1)

p = 0.680

Eosinophil (×10 ⁴ )

Eosinophil %

3.0

(0.5, 7.5)

0.6

(0.1, 2.4)

1.5

(0.0, 5.8)

0.4

(0.0, 1.4)

1.5

(0.0, 4.5)

0.4

(0.0, 1.0)

1.5

(0.0, 3.5)

0.3

(0.0, 1.2)

-3.2 (-8.6, 2.3)

p = 0.253

-1.0

(-2.3, 0.3)

p = 0.138

1.3

(0.3, 5.5)

0.4

(0.1, 1.1)

0.8

(0, 2.5)

0.2

(0, 0.6)

0.4

(-1.6,2.5)

p = 0.677

0.1

(-0.4, 0.5)

p = 0.798

Lymphocyte (×10 ⁴ )

Lymphocyte %

1.5

(0.0, 3.0)

0.3

(0.0, 0.7)

0.8

(0.0, 2.8)

0.2

(0.0, 0.7)

0.5

(0.0, 3)

0.1

(0.0, 0.7)

0.5

(0.0, 1.5)

0.1

(0.0, 0.5)

0.8

(-0.2, 1.9)

p = 0.125

0.1

(-0.2, 0.4)

p = 0.425

0.8

(0.0, 2.0)

0.2

(0.0, 0.7)

1.3

(0.0, 2.5)

0.4

(0.0, 0.6)

-0.1

(-1.3, 1.1)

p = 0.865

0.1

(-0.3, 0.4)

p = 0.757

Bronchial epithelial cell (×10 ⁴ )

Br. epithelial cell %

44.0

(26.0, 90.5)

11.5

(5.9, 26.0)

49.5

(29.0, 117.0)

12.3

(7.8, 29.2)

33.0

(18.0, 78.0)

8.4

(5.9, 17.8)

37.5

(24.0, 89.5)

9.2

(5.6, 24.8)

20.6

(-9.6, 50.9)

p = 0.177

1.6

(-5.9, 9.0)

p = 0.680

40.0

(28.0, 75.8)

11.2

(6.8, 22.2)

57.8

(39.5, 92.8)

13.3

(9.2, 22.5)

-10.3

(-32.7, 12.1)

p = 0.361

-1.3

(-7.7, 5.1)

p = 0.679

Sputum mediators

Leukotriene B ₄

(pg/ml)

103.1

(79.7, 185.4)

172.0

(106.0, 422.4)

98.4

(56.9, 215.2)

175.2

(77.0, 336.0)

-49.4

(-205.1, 106.4)

p = 0.528

104.9

(41.9, 151.5)

159.0

(81.0, 520.2)

-231.4

(-589.5, 126.6)

p = 0.200

MPO

(ng/mL)

16.5

(6.4, 39.6)

27.0

(10.6, 40.6)

16.4

(9.0, 30.5)

20.6

(10.6, 34.1)

-16.5

(-48.0, 15.0)

p = 0.298

14.8

(6.4, 34.5)

28.1

(8.9, 68.8)

-111.2

(-264.8, 42.5)

p = 0.152

Interleukin-6 (pg/ml)

139.5

(33.9, 276.5)

220.4

(70.0, 498.5)

109.3

(33.9, 351.5)

144.4

(40.3, 391.6)

-5.6

(-254.1, 243.0)

p = 0.964

147.2

(35.9, 223.0)

122.0

(34.1, 518.6)

-22.5

(-247.3, 202.3)

p = 0.841

Interleukin-8 (pg/ml)

813.1

(238.8, 3000.0)

3000.0

(426.1, 3000.0)

408.5

(179.7, 3000.0)

1686.0

(353.2, 3000.0)

-453.4

(-1071.9, 165.1)

p = 0.127

386.5

(180.7, 3000.0)

541.5

(239.4, 3000.0)

172.3

(-600.8,945.4)

p = 0.656

Interleukin-10 (pg/ml)

13.6

(1.0, 126.9)

13.0

(1.2, 80.9)

1.8

(0.3, 105.3)

15.4

(0.8, 53.4)

27.5

(-53.2, 108.2)

p = 0.497

6.1

(0.7, 72.6)

4.6

(0.7, 62.9)

-4.2

(-132.8, 124.5)

p = 0.948

Serum biomarkers

hs-CRP (mg/L)

2.8

(1.6, 4.0)

3.6

(1.5, 6.9)

2.6

(1.6, 5.0)

2.8

(1.4, 5.6)

0.9

(-4.1, 5.9)

p = 0.718

1.9

(1.0, 4.1)

2.1

(1.0, 5.1)

0.6

(-2.8, 3.9)

p = 0.731

Interleukin-6 (pg/ml)

2.0

(0.2, 4.1)

2.6

(0.2, 30.0)

2.7

(0.2, 11.0)

1.8

(0.2, 26.0)

-9.1

(-20.8, 2.7)

p = 0.127

0.4

(0.2, 8.8)

3.1

(0.2, 21.2)

16.7

(-29.5, 62.8)

p = 0.472