| Adults | Children | |||||
| Controls | Stable asthma | Acute asthma | Controls | Stable asthma | Acute asthma | |
| Subjects | 11 | 29 | 22 | 9 | 49 | 28 |
| Age# yrs | 59 (41–74) | 56 (51–65) | 43 (30–53) | 10 (9–11) | 11 (9–13) | 12 (8–17) |
| Males/females | 6/5 | 12/17 | 7/15 | 1/8 | 32/17*** | 15/13 |
| Ex-smokers | 8 (73) | 11 (38) | 4 (18) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Atopy | 2 (18) | 26 (90)*** | 11 (69) | 5 (56) | 42 (86) | NA |
| ICS use | 0 (0) | 26 (90)*** | 18 (82)*** | 0 (0) | 30 (73)*** | 19 (68)*** |
| BDP-equivalent ICS dose¶ μg·day−1 | 0 | 1537±958 | 1417±787 | 0 | 484±325 | NA |
| FEV1# % pred | 100.8 (91.9–108.4) | 71.4+ (59.5–87.2) | 73.0+ (50.0–77.0) | 92 (86–103) | 91 (85–105) | 53 +(41–69) |
| FEV1/FVC# % | 81 (71–88) | 65+ (58–74) | 74 (65–80) | 91 (85–97) | 80 (77–85) | NA |
Data are presented as n, median (interquartile range), n (%) or mean±sd. Fisher’s exact or the Chi-squared test was used, unless otherwise stated. ICS: inhaled corticosteroid; BDP: beclomethasone dipropionate; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; % pred: % predicted; FVC: forced vital capacity; NA: not assessed. #: Kruskal–Wallis test; ¶: unpaired t-test; +: p<0.008 versus healthy controls in post hoc test. ***: p<0.001 versus healthy controls in post hoc test.