Baseline characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients according to microsatellite DNA instability(MSI) status
| MSI+ | MSI- | p-value# | |
| Subjects n | 18 | 18 | |
| Age yrs | 68.0 (57–76) | 66.5 (59–70) | ns |
| Female/male n | 1/17 | 3/15 | ns |
| Current/ex-smokers n | 6/12 | 4/14 | ns |
| Smoking history pack-yrs | 47 (36–55) | 45 (35–55) | ns |
| FEV1 mL | 1090 (735–1935) | 1215 (760–1665) | ns |
| FEV1 % pred | 46.0 (22–58) | 47.5 (24–64) | ns |
| FEV1/FVC % | 48 (41–67) | 58 (43–64) | ns |
| MRC score | 1 (1–3) | 1 (1–3) | ns |
| Chronic cough | 8 (44) | 10 (55) | ns |
| Chronic sputum | 7 (38) | 9 (50) | ns |
| Bacterial colonisation | 5 (28) | 5 (28) | ns |
| Baseline treatment | |||
| Inhaled steroids | 11 (61) | 12 (66) | ns |
| Inhaled beta-agonists | 13 (72) | 14 (77) | ns |
| LTOT | 3 (16) | 5 (27) | ns |
Data are presented as n (%) or median (interquartile range), unless otherwise stated. ns: nonsignificant; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in one second; MRC: Medical Research Council; LTOT: long-term oxygen therapy. #: p-value between MSI+ and MSI- subjects (Mann–Whitney test for continuous variables or Chi-squared test for categorical data, as appropriate).