Clinical and inflammatory cell parameters of participants with neutrophilic and non-neutrophilic asthma
| Neutrophilic | Non-neutrophilic | p-value | |
| Subjects | 7 | 20 | |
| Age years | 50.7±9.7 | 60.3±10.8 | 0.049 |
| Male | 15 (71) | 6 (30) | 0.071 |
| Atopic | 6 (86) | 16 (80) | 0.713 |
| Ex-smoker | 2 (29) | 11 (55) | 0.224 |
| Smoking pack-years | 1 and 24 | 16.8 (2.2, 56.5) | 0.621 |
| FEV1 % predicted | 84.2 (17.0) | 74.3 (17.8) | 0.213 |
| FEV1/FVC % | 74.8±7.5 | 66.8±10.0 | 0.064 |
| ACQ6 score | 1.0±0.7 | 1.4±1.0 | 0.342 |
| GINA treatment step | 0.562 | ||
| 1 | 0 (0) | 1 (5) | |
| 2 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| 3 | 1 (17) | 1 (5) | |
| 4 | 5 (83) | 18 (90) | |
| Taking ICS | 6 (86) | 18 (90) | 0.610 |
| ICS dose µg | 2000 (800, 2000) | 2000 (1000, 2000) | 0.933 |
| VAS symptom scores | |||
| Breathlessness | 4.1 (1.1, 23) | 7.2 (4.8, 10.0) (n=19) | 0.341 |
| Wheeze | 1.1 (0.1, 7.0) | 3.5 (1.0, 6.4) (n=19) | 0.469 |
| Cough | 4.5 (2.2, 51) | 7.5 (2.8, 10.0) (n=19) | 0.665 |
| Sputum production | 3.0 (0.7, 14.0) | 5.9 (0.7, 10.0) (n=19) | 0.729 |
| Inflammatory cell counts | |||
| Total cell count ×106 mL–1 | 7.2 (6.7, 9.1) | 3.2 (2.1, 5.0) | 0.015 |
| Viability % | 84 (81, 94) | 78 (73, 83) | 0.064 |
| Neutrophils % | 74.4±12.2 | 30.0±16.7 | <0.001 |
| Eosinophils % | 0.3 (0.0, 1.0) | 2.1 (0.9, 4.4) | 0.016 |
| Macrophages % | 21.5 (14.8, 34.8) | 52.7 (41.6, 68.9) | <0.001 |
| Lymphocytes % | 0.5 (0.0, 1.75) | 1.0 (0.3, 1.1) | 0.538 |
| Columnar epithelial cells % | 0.3 (0.0, 1.0) | 1.9 (0.9, 4.9) | <0.001 |
| Squamous cells % | 1.2 (0.0, 11.3) | 4.7 (1.4, 8.6) |
Data are presented as n, mean±sd, n (%) or median (quartile 1, quartile 3), unless otherwise stated. FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FVC: forced vital capacity; ACQ6: Asthma Control Questionnaire 6; GINA: Global Initiative for Asthma; ICS: inhaled corticosteroid; VAS: visual analogue scale.