From: Inflammation and corticosteroid responsiveness in ex-, current- and never-smoking asthmatics
Ex-smokers (n=29) | Current-smokers (n=30) | Never-smokers (n=55) | p-value | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Age (years) | 38 (28, 41) | 27‡ (25, 37) | 25‡ (25, 35) | 0.001 |
Gender (male/female)# | 13 / 16 | 10 / 20 | 16 / 39 | 0.349 |
Daily number of cigarettes | – | 8.0 (4.6, 15.0) | – | |
Packyears (number) | 6.9 (3.5, 20.8) | 7.4 (2.5, 14.1) | – | |
Duration of smoking cessation (years) | 7.0 (1.5, 15.5) | – | – | |
Still using ICS after tapering (yes/no)# | 2 / 27 | 2 / 28 | 2 / 53 | 0.645 |
Treatment# (prednisolone/FP500/FP2000) | 10 / 11 / 8 | 11 / 6 / 13 | 17 / 20 / 18 | 0.508 |
FEV1 (L) | 2.9 (2.3, 3.4) | 2.8 (2.4, 3.4) | 3.0 (2.3, 3.4) | 0.911 |
FEV1 (%predicted) | 79 (68, 89) | 78 (70, 91) | 82 (62, 94) | 0.957 |
Reversibility (%predicted) | 11 (9, 17) | 11 (9, 15) | 13 (9, 18) | 0.150 |
PC20 methacholine (mg/ml)§ | 0.7 (0.06, 7.9) | 0.8 (0.03, 7.3) | 0.4 (0.02, 7.8) | 0.123 |
PC20 AMP (mg/ml)§ | 10.3 (0.2, 640) | 7.2 (0.2, 640) | 3.6 (0.02, 640) | 0.179 |
Sputum eosinophils (%) | 2.8* (1.1, 6.0) | 4.7* (0.8, 10.7) | 7.7 (3.8, 14.3) | 0.015 |
Blood eosinophils (109/L) | 0.27* (0.14, 0.43) | 0.28* (0.15, 0.41) | 0.44 (0.34, 0.61) | 0.001 |
Sputum ECP (μg/L) | 33 (19, 124) | 67 (16, 126) | 49 (17, 163) | 0.979 |
Serum ECP (μg/L) | 10* (8, 17) | 14 (9, 23) | 22 (12, 29) | 0.001 |
Sputum neutrophils (%) | 39 (22, 53) | 42 (26, 65) | 29 (20, 50) | 0.175 |
Blood neutrophils (109/L) | 3.9 (3.0, 4.6) | 4.1* (3.4, 5.3) | 3.1 (2.6, 4.1) | 0.003 |
Exhaled NO (ppb) | 15 (11, 21) | 12 (6, 17) | 16 (12, 21) | 0.058 |