Table 2– NOD2 and TLR gene expression and inflammatory protein expression for participants with eosinophilic, neutrophilic and paucigranulocytic asthma and healthy controls

	Eosinophilic asthma	Neutrophilic asthma	Paucigranulocytic asthma	Healthy controls	p-value^#
Gene expression
NOD2 mRNA	0.68 (0.37–1.52)	2.71 (0.92–6.87)^¶,+	0.54 (0.35–1.56)	0.95 (0.53–1.28)	0.001
TLR2 mRNA	1.29 (0.55–3.52)	8.59 (4.46–17.61)^¶,+,§	2.74 (0.67–7.57)	0.86 (0.39–2.40)	<0.001
TLR4 mRNA	0.78 (0.26–2.45)	2.48 (1.01–6.81)	1.19 (0.35–5.02)	0.71 (0.51–2.57)	0.070
Protein level
IL-8 ng·mL⁻¹	5.0 (2.9–11.1)	17.2 (4.8–59.3)^+,§	7.1 (2.7–16.9)	3.5 (1.8–6.0)	0.002
IL-8 samples n	30	18	35	24
NE ng·mL⁻¹	414.6 (240–1086)	2995 (529–9188)^¶,+,§	521.7 (189–845)	493 (110–678)	0.001
NE samples n	28	16	29	13

Data are presented as median (interquartile range), unless otherwise stated. NOD: nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain-containing protein; TLR: Toll-like receptor; IL: interleukin; NE: neutrophil elastase. ^#: for four-group comparison; ^¶: p<0.008 versus paucigranulocytic asthma; ⁺: p<0.008 versus eosinophilic asthma; ^§: p<0.008 versus healthy controls.