Demographic and functional characteristics
| Control | COPD | Asthma | p-value | |
| Subjects | 14 | 12 | 12 | |
| Age years | 48±15 | 58±13 | 55±11 | 0.15 |
| Male/female | 6/8 | 6/6 | 4/8 | 0.71 |
| Tobacco status nonsmoker/ex-smoker/current smoker | 9/5/0 | 0/5/7 | 5/6/1 | <0.001 |
| Smoking pack-years | 6±10 | 61±27 | 14±11 | <0.0001 |
| Treatment | ||||
| ICS yes/no | 0/14 | 7/5 | 11/1 | <0.0001 |
| LABA yes/no | 0/14 | 9/3 | 6/6 | <0.001 |
| LAMA yes/no | 0/14 | 6/6 | 0/12 | <0.001 |
| SABA yes/no | 0/14 | 0/12 | 3/9 | <0.05 |
| LTRA yes/no | 0/14 | 1/11 | 4/8 | <0.05 |
| Severity status | ||||
| GOLD 1 | 3 | |||
| GOLD 2 | 8 | |||
| GOLD 3 | 1 | |||
| Mild–moderate | 7 | |||
| Severe–refractory | 5 | |||
| FEV1 % pred | 108±11 | 63±14***,# | 80±18*** | <0.0001 |
| FEV1 postbronchodilator % pred | 111±17 | 70±15*** | 82±19** | <0.0001 |
| FVC % pred | 114±13 | 89±13*** | 92±15*** | <0.0001 |
| FEV1/FVC % | 80±6 | 57±9***,## | 71±8* | <0.0001 |
| Sputum | ||||
| Squamous cells % | 21.0 (4.7–27.5) | 2.5 (0.0–10.5)* | 4.0 (1.2–13.5) | <0.01 |
| Total non-squamous cells ×106·g−1 | 1.0 (0.3–1.9) | 3.3 (1.2–8.1) | 4.6 (2.2–9.8)** | <0.01 |
| Viability % | 77.0 (68.5–81.8) | 75.0 (64.5–86.5) | 75.0 (62.0–81.0) | 0.68 |
| Macrophages % | 37.6 (23.9–64.7) | 18.3 (4.5–27.2)* | 20.4 (11.2–25.8) | <0.01 |
| Neutrophils % | 53.7 (28.1–68.7) | 69.6 (54.6–86.1) | 39.0 (24.3–81.0) | <0.05 |
| Lymphocytes % | 1.9 (0.9–2.4) | 2.4 (0.5–5.0) | 0.5 (0.4–3.3) | 0.50 |
| Eosinophils % | 0.0 (0.0–0.4) | 2.3 (0.3–4.4)* | 21.4 (1.8–44.2)*** | <0.001 |
| Epithelial cells % | 2.8 (2.3–6.2) | 1.1 (0.4–4.8) | 5.8 (3.6–7.7) | 0.15 |
Data are presented as n, mean±sd or median (interquartile range), unless otherwise stated. COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ICS: inhaled corticosteroids; LABA: long-acting β-agonist; LAMA: long-acting muscarinic antagonist; SABA: short-acting β-agonist; LTRA: leukotriene receptor antagonist; GOLD: Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FVC: forced vital capacity. *: p<0.05, **: p<0.01, ***: p<0.001 versus healthy subjects; #: p<0.05, ##: p<0.01 versus asthmatic patients.