Elevated levels of arginase activity are related to inflammation in patients with COPD exacerbation

BMC Pulmonary Medicine

Table 1 Characteristics of the population studied

	Group (I)^a	Group (II)^a	Group (III)^a	Group (IV)^a	p I + II	p I + III	p II + III	p III + IV	p I + IV
Age (years)	67.67 (10.34)	69.37 (8.65)	71.40 (11.34)	70.64 (11.37)	0.605	0.467	0.717	0.859	0.557
BMI (kg/m²)	28.67 (5.94)	28.14 (3.74)	25.45 (3.100)	25.36 (3.375)	0.752	0.076	0.036	0.943	0.032
Pack-year	39.14 (20.25)	59.06 (25.91)	51.73 (20.00)	52.21 (20.67)	0.082	0.185	0.426	0.950	0.378
CAT	7.47 (3.58)	13.53 (4.41)	15.73 (3.45)	17.14 (3.439)	< 0.001	< 0.001	0.016	0.281	0.122
mMRC < 2^b	15 (23.8%)	5 (7.9%)	1 (1.60%)	2 (3.2%)	< 0.001^b	< 0.001^b	0.002^b	0.770^b	0.002^b
mMRC ≥ 2^b	0 (0%)	14 (22.2%)	14 (22.2%)	12 (19.00%)	< 0.001^b	< 0.001^b	0.002^b	0.770^b	0.002^b
FEV₁pb (%)	121.40 (19.88)	58.15 (21.87)	47.51 (13.87)	76.09 (21.37)	< 0.001	< 0.001	0.157	0.932	0.111
FEV₁/FVCpb	81.05 (6.322)	48.06 (12.10)	45.64 (11.14)	47.53 (9.199)	< 0.001	< 0.001	0.892	0.624	0.553
Dlco (%)	93.96 (24.71)	81.21 (22.55)	68.49 (14.26)	59.39 (11.57)	0.133	< 0.001	0.001	0.125	0.155
FeNO (ppb)	25.86 (16.41)	17.93 (23.31)	14.30 (8.455)	13.20 (6.704)	0.289	0.016	0.424	0.809	0.796

Data expressed as mean and standard deviation (quoted) unless otherwise indicated
BMI, body mass index; Pack-year, number of packs of cigarettes smoked per day by the number of years the person has smoked; CAT, COPD assessment test; FVCpb, forced post-bronchodilator vital capacity; FEV₁pb, Forced expiratory volume in the first second post-bronchodilator; FEV₁/FVCpb, FEV₁/FVC post-bronchodilator; Dlco, diffusion capacity of carbon monoxide; FeNO, nitric oxide in exhaled air; mMRC, modified dyspnea scale of the Medical Research Council
^aGroup I: Control; Group II: stable COPD; Group III: exacerbated phase COPD. The subjects in the fourth group: COPD 3 months after exacerbation (IV), are the same than the ones from group III
^bQualitative variable. The values of frequencies and percentages in relation to the entire population are shown

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