Skip to main content

Table 1 Differences in clinical and inflammatory variables between ex-, current- and never-smokers at baseline

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

  1. Values are presented as medians with interquartile ranges, unless stated otherwise, # = number, § geometric mean (range), prednisolone = prednisolone 30 mg once daily, FP500 fluticasone propionate 500 μg/day, FP2000 fluticasone propionate 2000 μg/day, FEV 1 forced expiratory volume in one second, PC 20 provocative concentration causing a 20% fall in FEV 1, AMP adenosine-5′-monophosphate, ECP eosinophilic cationic protein, NO nitric oxide, ppb parts per billion, * = p<0.05 compared to never-smokers with Holm’s Bonferroni correction, ‡ = p<0.05 compared to ex-smokers with Holm’s Bonferroni correction.