White cell counts (WCC) and inflammatory markers in cystic fibrosis patients with chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) infection
| Sporadic P. aeruginosa group | Transmissible P. aeruginosa group | p‐value | |
| Total WCC ×109·L−1 | 10.3±0.6 | 10.5±0.7 | 0.81 |
| Neutrophil count ×109·L−1 | 7.4±0.6 | 7.6±0.7 | 0.87 |
| Plasma IL‐6 pg·mL−1 | 5.8 (1.3–25.7) | 6.4 (1.2–38.8) | 0.91 |
| Plasma NE/α1‐antitrypsin complexes ng·mL−1 | 246 (109.5–2114.8) | 229 (118.3–533.3) | 0.57 |
| Serum CRP mg·L−1 | 7.5 (1–29) | 8 (1–71) | 0.61 |
| Sputum IL‐8 ng·mL−1 | 13.5 (5.5–56.5) | 10.0 (3.8–15.6) | 0.24 |
| Sputum TNFα pg·mL−1 | 11 (0–169.3) | 9 (0–278.5) | 0.78 |
| Sputum NE µg·mL−1 | 22.0 (10.5–38.6) | 17.3 (7.1–173.5) | 0.67 |
| Urine TNFr1 pg·mL−1 | 1167 (286.9–3531) | 988 (286.9–5082.6) | 0.55 |
Data are presented as mean±se or median (range)
IL: interleukin
NE: neutrophil elastase
CRP: C‐reactive protein
TNF: tumour necrosis factor
TNFr1: tumour necrosis factor receptor 1
n=20 for each group, except sputum samples n=18 for sporadic P. aeruginosa group and urine samples n=18 for epidemic P. aeruginosa group