Characteristics of patients with persistent airflow limitation (PAL) according to site of mRNA collection
| Nasal brushings | Sputum samples | Endobronchial brushings | Endobronchial biopsies | |||||
| No PAL | PAL | No PAL | PAL | No PAL | PAL | No PAL | PAL | |
| Patients | 15 | 22 | 21 | 58 | 30 | 32 | 22 | 28 |
| Female | 11 (73.3)* | 8 (36.4)* | 13 (61.9) | 35 (60.3) | 19 (63.3)* | 10 (31.2)* | 14 (63.6) | 12 (42.9) |
| Age years | 47.5±16.2 | 53.2±12.1 | 52.5±13.9 | 54.2±11.4 | 46.7±14.0 | 53.0±11.1 | 48.4±12.6 | 52.7±11.2 |
| BMI kg·m−2 | 34.1±6.6 | 29.4±5.7 | 28.2±5.0 | 28.1±5.3 | 31.3±6.3 | 28.5±6.1 | 30.2±5.4 | 28.6±6.4 |
| Asthma duration years | 25.0 (14.0–38.0) | 21.5 (17.0–40.5) | 23.1±14.5 | 26.8±17.2 | 26.4±16.8 | 26.7±17.9 | 25.8±15.5 | 30.5±18.7 |
| Smoking status | ||||||||
| Never-smoker | 12 (80.0) | 11 (50.0) | 11 (52.4) | 35 (60.3) | 22 (73.3) | 15 (46.9) | 16 (72.7) | 16 (57.1) |
| Ex-smoker | 3 (20.0) | 8 (36.4) | 8 (38.1) | 18 (31.0) | 7 (23.3) | 12 (37.5) | 5 (22.7) | 6 (21.4) |
| Current smoker | 0 (0.0) | 3 (13.6) | 2 (9.5) | 5 (8.6) | 1 (3.3) | 5 (15.6) | 1 (4.5) | 6 (21.4) |
| Pack-years | 5.0 (3.3–5.1) | 20.0 (11.5–38.5) | 13.8 (2.9–19.7) | 10.0 (2.8–18.8) | 5.1 (1.4–8.1)* | 18.8 (7.0–24.0)* | 5.3 (2.0–13.4)* | 21.5 (18.0–27.5)* |
| OCS dose mg | 10.0 (8.0–25.0) | 10.00 (8.12–13.75) | 10.0 (8.8–12.5) | 10.0 (6.9–13.1) | 10.0 (10.0–21.3) | 10.0 (6.5–16.3) | 10.0 (7.9–10.0) | 10.0 (6.0–15.0) |
| ACQ score | 1.9±1.0 | 2.2±1.2 | 2.6±1.4 | 2.6±1.3 | 2.1±1.2 | 2.4±1.0 | 2.3 (1.3) | 2.4 (1.1) |
| Exacerbations year−1 | 2.5 (1.0–4.0) | 3.0 (1.0–4.0) | 2.0 (2.0–3.5) | 2.0 (1.5–4.0) | 2.0 (2.0–3.5) | 3.0 (2.0–4.0) | 2.0 (2.0–3.3) | 3.0 (2.0–4.0) |
| Post-bronchodilator FEV1 % pred | 99.4±17.6* | 71.5±14.9* | 90.2±14.0* | 63.5±19.9* | 91.9±14.3* | 66.7±15.5* | 89.6±13.6* | 68.3±15.2* |
| Blood eosinophils ×109 L−1 | 0.2 (0.1–0.4) | 0.2 (0.1–0.3) | 0.2 (0.2–0.3) | 0.4 (0.2–0.5) | 0.2 (0.1–0.4) | 0.2 (0.1–0.3) | 0.2 (0.1–0.3) | 0.2 (0.1–0.3) |
| Blood neutrophils ×109 L−1 | 3.8 (3.6–5.1) | 5.0 (4.2–7.8) | 4.3 (3.3–6.3) | 5.0 (3.9–7.5) | 4.0 (3.2–5.4)* | 5.8 (4.1–7.7)* | 4.0 (3.5–5.3) | 5.0 (4.3–7.3) |
| Sputum eosinophils % | 1.4 (0.4–4.6) | 2.6 (0.2–13.8) | 1.3 (0.2–3.8)* | 6.2 (1.3–28.5)* | 1.4 (0.6–4.6) | 4.5 (0.2–24.9) | 2.0 (0.7–8.0) | 2.6 (0.2–6.1) |
| Sputum neutrophils % | 46.6±18.4 | 63.2±18.8 | 61.5±23.6 | 58.5±27.1 | 48.5±20.7 | 61.6±23.3 | 50.4±19.5 | 56.5±27.0 |
Data are presented as n, n (%), mean±sd or median (interquartile range). BMI: body mass index; OCS: oral corticosteroid; ACQ: Asthma Control Questionnaire; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s. *: p<0.05 (significantly different between the groups within each sample).