Figures
- FIGURE 1
Heatmap showing the relative abundances of the dominant bacterial operational taxonomical units. f_: family; c_: class.
- FIGURE 2
Principal component analysis plot. The axes represent each of the principal components (PC1 and PC2) and the proportion of the variation explained is shown in brackets. OTU: operational taxonomic unit.
Tables
- TABLE 1
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.
- TABLE 2
Sputum sample bacterial diversity and phyla for adults with neutrophilic and non-neutrophilic asthma
Neutrophilic Non-neutrophilic p-value Subjects 7 20 Shannon index 1.1 (0.9, 4.2) 3.8 (3.4, 4.2) 0.010 Simpson index 0.3 (0.3, 0.9) 0.9 (0.8, 0.9) 0.035 Bacteria phyla Actinobacteria 3.8 (0.2, 3.1) 4.0 (2.1, 6.7) 0.019 Bacteroidetes 2.3 (1.1, 26.7) 14.9 (8.4, 22.8) 0.092 Firmicutes 7.8 (3.1, 25.7) 35.8 (27.5, 41.8) 0.009 Fusobacteria 0.5 (0.3, 3.8) 3.7 (2.3, 7.8) 0.103 Proteobacteria 88.0 (25.1, 92.0) 38.0 (21.1, 43.1) 0.046 Data are presented as n or median (quartile 1, quartile 3), unless otherwise stated.
- TABLE 3
Sputum sample bacterial diversity and phyla for ex-smokers and never-smokers
Ex-smoker Never-smoker p-value Subjects 16 14 Shannon index 3.8 (3.5, 4.4) 2.8 (1.1, 4.1) 0.010 Simpson index 0.9 (0.8, 0.9) 0.7 (0.3, 0.9) 0.040 Bacteria phyla Actinobacteria 4.0 (2.0, 7.5) 2.6 (0.3, 4.5) 0.077 Bacteroidetes 14.5 (8.4, 23.9) 9.1 (1.1, 22.9) 0.299 Firmicutes 32.4 (26.3, 37.2) 21.2 (5.4, 40.7) 0.271 Fusobacteria 4.0 (3.4, 9.3) 2.1 (0.4, 5.0) 0.028 Proteobacteria 41.5 (22.6, 43.1) 60.3 (21.3, 91.4) 0.360 Data are presented as n or median (quartile 1, quartile 3), unless otherwise stated.
- TABLE 4
Clinical and inflammatory characteristics of participants with and without Tropheryma sequences
Tropheryma present Tropheryma absent p-value Subjects 7 23 Age years 53±14 60±9 0.175 Male 2 (29) 10 (43) 0.403 Atopic 5 (71) 19 (87) 0.347 Ex-smoker 4 (57) 12 (52) 0.581 Smoking pack-years 16.7 (7.7, 47.8) 14.4 (1.3, 40.3) 0.505 FEV1 % predicted 81±24 76±15 0.577 FEV1/FVC % 71±10 68±10 0.517 ICS dose µg 2000 (2000, 4000) 2000 (1000, 2000) 0.150 ACQ6 score 1.0±0.7 1.5±1.0 0.250 VAS symptom scores Breathlessness 6.5 (2.1, 23.0) 7.0 (4.1, 10.0) 1.000 Wheeze 3.5 (1.0, 4.6) 3.2 (0.8, 6.7) 0.683 Cough 6.0 (3.7, 7.2) 7.4 (2.2, 10.0) 0.386 Sputum production 3.8 (0.0, 5.9) 4.7 (1.8, 10.0) 0.740 Inflammatory cell counts Total cell count ×106 mL–1 5.2 (3.3, 7.2) 4.6 (2.2, 8.9) 0.713 Viability % 85 (74, 94) 81 (75, 84) 0.328 Neutrophils % 40.9±25.5 41.8±25.7 0.942 Eosinophils % 1.8 (1.0, 7.0) 1.5 (0.3, 4.0) 0.769 Macrophages % 45 (35, 77) 41 (21, 61) 0.419 Lymphocytes % 1.0 (0.3, 2.5) 0.5 (0.3, 1.0) 0.457 Columnar epithelial cells % 0.5 (0.3, 2.5) 1.3 (0.3, 3.0) 0.475 Squamous cells % 6.8 (1.5, 9.5) 3.6 (0.5, 6.3) 0.154 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; ICS: inhaled corticosteroid; VAS: visual analogue scale.
- TABLE 5
Clinical and inflammatory characteristics of participants with and without a high abundance of Haemophilus sequences (Haemophilus high and Haemophilus low groups)
Haemophilus high Haemophilus low p-value Subjects 6 24 Age years 45±14 62±7 <0.001 Male 5 (83) 7 (29) 0.026 Atopic 6 (100) 18 (78) 0.283 Ex-smoker 0 (0) 16 (67) 0.005 Smoking pack-years 14.4 (1.9, 40.3) FEV1 % predicted 82.2±14.2 76.2±17.9 0.452 FEV1/FVC % 73.2±8.8) 67.6±10.5 0.241 ICS dose µg 2000 (2000, 2000) 2000 (900, 2000) 0.393 ACQ6 score 1.19±0.68 1.44±1.00 0.571 VAS symptom scores Breathlessness 2.8 (1.1, 8.0) 7.0 (4.8, 18.0) 0.077 Wheeze 1.1 (0.8, 2.0) 4.0 (1.1, 7.0) 0.063 Cough 5.0 (3.0, 6.0) 7.2 (1.8, 10.0) 0.706 Sputum production 2.7 (0.7, 3.3) 5.9 (1.8, 10.0) 0.215 Inflammatory cell counts Neutrophilic asthma 4 (67) 3 (15) 0.024 Total cell count ×106 mL–1 7.0 (3.5, 8.4) 4.4 (2.5, 8.6) 0.568 Viability % 82 (75, 84) 82 (76, 90) 0.484 Neutrophils % 61.2±33.6 35.9±19.8 0.027 Eosinophils % 1.3 (0.3, 4.3) 1.6 (0.5, 3.6) 0.917 Macrophages % 23.8 (14.8, 42.3) 46.3 (34.8, 62.5) 0.087 Lymphocytes % 1.5 (0.5, 2.5) 0.5 (0.3, 1.0) 0.104 Columnar epithelial cells % 0.4 (0.3, 1.0) 1.8 (0.4, 3.3) 0.152 Squamous cells % 5.6 (1.0, 9.9) 3.7 (1.1, 7.0) 0.622 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; ICS: inhaled corticosteroid; VAS: visual analogue scale.
Disclosures
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