Characteristics of study samples
| Sarcoidosis | IPF | Controls | |
| Sample size | 71 | 15 | 10 |
| Age years range (median) | 24–67 (43) | 48–89 (72) | 21–53 (23) |
| Males/females | 38/33 | 9/6 | 6/4 |
| Type 0/I/II/III/IV | 3/17/39/6/6 | ||
| Never/former/current smokers | 56/11/4 | 12/3/0 | 10/0/0 |
| Medication# | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Histologically confirmed yes/no/NA | 50/12/9 | ||
| Time from initial diagnosis to BAL | |||
| 0 years | 57 | ||
| 1 year | 4 | ||
| 2 years | 3 | ||
| 4 years | 3 | ||
| 5 years | 2 | ||
| 30 years | 1 | ||
| 34 years | 1 |
IPF: idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; NA: not available; BAL: bronchoalveolar lavage. #: steroids and immunosuppressants.