Figures
- Fig. 1—
Time trend of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients whose symptoms had recovered (▪) and those whose symptoms had not recovered (•) at day 35 (p = 0.03). Estimates from the mixed linear model analysis on log-transformed data were anti-logged. Data are presented as mean±sem expressed as a percentage of the value of the exacerbation onset sample (time = 0).
- Fig. 2—
Relationship between exacerbation symptom recovery time and changes in a) sputum interleukin (IL)-6 (rs = 0.57, p = 0.004) and b) sputum IL-8 (rs = 0.48, p = 0.01) between baseline and day 7, probably reflecting the completeness of response to therapy.
- Fig. 3—
Time trend of a) serum interleukin (IL)-6 and b) serum C-reactive protein (CRP) at exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and during recovery, in frequent (▪) and infrequent (•) exacerbators (p<0.05). Estimates from the mixed linear model analysis on log-transformed data were anti-logged. The mean±sem are expressed as a percentage of the value of the exacerbation onset sample (time = 0).
- Fig. 4—
Differences in median±interquartile range serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration at day 14 between patients with and without a recurrent exacerbation within 50 days: 8.8 mg·L−1 versus 3.4 mg·L−1 (p = 0.007).
- Fig. 5—
Relationship between serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration at day 14 of the index exacerbation and time to the next exacerbation –––: rs = −0.47, p<0.01.
Tables
- Table 1—
Baseline characteristics of the 73 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients(39 males, 20 active smokers)
Mean±sd Age yrs 69.3±7.8 FEV1 L 1.08±0.47 FEV1 % pred 45±18 FVC L 2.36±0.87 BMI kg·m−2 26.2±6.3 Pa,O2 kPa 8.86±1.08 Pa,CO2 kPa 5.74±0.95 Smoking pack-yrs 48.1±34.9 SGRQ total score 59.0±18.3 FEV1: forced expiratory volume in one second; % pred: % predicted; FVC: forced vital capacity; BMI: body mass index; Pa,O2: arterial oxygen tension; Pa,CO2: carbon dioxide arterial tension; SGRQ: St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire.
- Table 2—
Time course of inflammatory markers at exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Marker Baseline Exacerbation onset p-value baseline–onset Day 7 p-value baseline–day 7 Day 14 p-value baseline–day 14 Day 35 p-value baseline–day 35 Sputum IL-6 pg·mL−1 112 (40–219) 161 (86–308) 0.03 144 (64–226) 0.31 124 (83–236) 0.95 216 (76–319) 0.63 IL-8 pg·mL−1 2941 (1913–3808) 3276 (2285–4129) 0.13 2653 (1630–3912) 0.09 2296 (1667–3424) 0.12 3305 (2400–4118) 0.67 Serum IL-6 pg·mL−1 5.6 (3.1–8.4) 12.1 (4.0–19.9) <0.01 3.9 (1.6–6.4) <0.01 4.9 (2.6–8.7) 0.16 5.8 (3.2–9.0) 0.38 CRP mg·L−1 6.5 (3.8–11.8) 10.9 (5.5–34.2) <0.01 5.3 (3.5–9.4) 0.95 4.0 (2.3–9.6) 0.10 6.8 (3.6–11.6) 0.42 Data are presented as median (interquartile range), unless otherwise stated. IL: interleukin; CRP: C-reactive protein.
