Characteristics and outcomes of asthmatic and control subjects
| Asthma | Control | ||
| ICS- | ICS+ | ||
| Subjects n | 22 | 23 | 14 |
| Age yrs | 48±21 | 56±13 | 26±7¶ |
| Sex (male/female) | 7/15 | 9/14 | 9/5 |
| Lifetime smoking nonsmoker/ex-smoker | 20/2 | 20/3 | 14/0 |
| Disease duration yrs | 5.9±7.0 | 10.9±9.8+ | |
| FEV1 % pred | 87±23 | 90±18 | 94±9 |
| FEV1/FVC % | 72±9 | 72±11 | 88±7§ |
| FEF25–75% % pred | 60±32 | 55±24 | 100±20§ |
| BMI kg·m−2 | 22±3 | 23±4 | 21±2 |
| Serum hs-CRP mg·L−1 | 1.3±1.5 | 0.9±1.0 | 0.2±0.3ƒ |
| Cell counts in induced sputum# | |||
| Macrophages cells×105·g−1 | 2.3±3.2 | 4.1±4.9 | 8.1±5.5 |
| Neutrophils cells×105·g−1 | 9.8±15.8 | 19.7±34.2 | 3.2±2.2 |
| Eosinophils cells×105·g−1 | 3.5±9.2 | 7.0±11.9 | 0.0±0.1## |
| Lymphocytes cells×105·g−1 | 0.2±0.4 | 0.4±0.1 | 0.3±0.3 |
ICS: inhaled corticosteroid; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in one second; FVC: forced vital capacity; FEF25–75%: forced mid-expiratory flow; BMI: body mass index; hs-CRP: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; % pred: percentage of the predicted value. #: in 18 ICS- subjects, 22 ICS+ subjects and 14 controls. ¶: p = 0.0001 versus ICS-; p<0.0001 versus ICS+; +: p = 0.011 versus ICS-; §: p<0.0001 versus ICS- and ICS+; ƒ: p = 0.0047 versus ICS-; ##: p = 0.036 versus ICS+.