Immunohistochemical quantification of innate immune molecules and cytokines related to bacterial response in bronchial biopsies
| Control nonsmokers | Control smokers | Mild/moderate COPD | Severe/very severe COPD | Kruskal–Wallis p-value | |
| Epithelium score 0–3 | |||||
| TLR2 | 1.5 (0.75–2) | 1.5 (0.75–2.5) | 1.5 (0.75–2) | 1.75 (0.75–2.5) | 0.416 |
| TLR4 | 1.0 (0.5–2) | 1.25 (0.5–2) | 1.25 (0.75–2.25)# | 1.75 (0.75–3)# | 0.008 |
| TLR9 | 0.5 (0.12–0.75) | 0.37 (0.12–1) | 0.5 (0–1) | 0.5 (0.12–1.5) | 0.851 |
| CD14 | 0.62 (0.5–1) | 0.75 (0.25–1.5) | 0.75 (0.5–1.75) | 1.0 (0.5–1.75) | 0.338 |
| NOD1 | 2.0 (0.25–2.75) | 2.5 (1–3) | 2.5 (1–2.75) | 2.5 (2–3)#,+ | 0.022 |
| NOD2 | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0.25) | 0.784 |
| MyD88 | 1.62 (0.75–2.75) | 1.62 (0.75–2.5) | 1.5 (0.75–2) | 2 (0.75–2.5) | 0.059 |
| TIRAP | 1.5 (0.75–2.75) | 2 (1–2.5) | 1.75 (0.5–2.5) | 2.37 (1–2.75) | 0.082 |
| Phospho-IRAK1 | 1.5 (0.75–2) | 1.75 (0.75–2.5) | 1.5 (1–2.5) | 2 (1–2.25) | 0.688 |
| IRAK4 | 2.5 (1.5–3) | 2.37 (1–3) | 2.62 (1.75–3) | 2.5 (1.5–3) | 0.326 |
| Lamina propria cells·mm−2 | |||||
| TLR2 | 101 (56–168) | 124 (45–185) | 90 (11–390) | 150 (12–470) | 0.341 |
| TLR4 | 62 (46–129) | 58 (32–111) | 99 (40–285)¶ | 111 (27–344)¶ | 0.041 |
| TLR9 | 4 (0–52) | 5 (0–15) | 13 (0–53) | 4 (0–90) | 0.211 |
| CD14 | 118 (75–213) | 133 (21–376) | 103 (48–290) | 161 (60–312) | 0.999 |
| NOD1 | 153 (37–355) | 202 (98–323) | 229 (145–419)# | 286 (161–475)#,¶ | 0.007 |
| NOD2 | 0 (0–9) | 0 (0–9) | 0 (0–11) | 0 (0–41) | 0.780 |
| MyD88 | 129 (32–216) | 128 (44–275) | 140 (56–252) | 138 (44–339) | 0.956 |
| TIRAP | 209 (73–314) | 176 (101–376) | 193 (54–548) | 258 (39–548) | 0.438 |
| Phospho-IRAK1 | 322 (232–441) | 324 (258–366) | 344 (185–419) | 302 (186–460) | 0.550 |
| IRAK4 | 155 (70–406) | 142 (27–254) | 206 (64–387) | 172 (103–274) | 0.071 |
| CD4 | 164 (101–212) | 246 (37–500) | 258 (107–731) | 252 (66–470) | 0.206 |
| CD8 | 147 (76–301) | 179 (86–657) | 195 (86–523) | 244 (111–355) | 0.365 |
| CD68 | 284 (128–516) | 275 (97–904) | 367 (158–759) | 340 (204–1054) | 0.671 |
| Neutrophil elastase | 93 (58–166) | 97 (45–308) | 94 (28–512) | 151 (47–470)#,¶ | 0.045 |
Data are presented as median (range), unless otherwise stated. COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; TLR: Toll-like receptor; NOD: nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain; MyD88: myeloid differentiation primary response protein 88; TIRAP: Toll-interleukin-1 receptor domain-containing adaptor protein; IRAK: interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used for multiple comparisons followed by the Mann–Whitney U-test for comparison between groups: #: p<0.05, significantly different from control nonsmokers; ¶: p<0.05, significantly different from control smokers with normal lung function; +: p<0.05, significantly different from mild/moderate COPD. Significant values are shown in italics. The exact p-values for comparisons between groups are given in the Results section.