Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics of the Study Groups
| Characteristic | Individuals with Asthma |
P Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Without EIB (n = 9) | With EIB (n = 11) | ||
| General | |||
| Age, yr, mean ± SD | 25.6 ± 5.3 | 24.8 ± 7.5 | 0.81 |
| Male, n (%) | 2 (22.2) | 3 (27.3) | 0.40 |
| BMI, kg/m2, mean ± SD | 22.7 ± 2.7 | 23.8 ± 3.9 | 0.48 |
| Airway physiology, mean ± SD | |||
| FEV1, % predicted | 93.4 ± 9.7 | 90.2 ± 11.5 | 0.51 |
| FVC, % predicted | 96.0 ± 8.6 | 102.9 ± 6.0 | 0.05 |
| FEV1/FVC ratio | 0.82 ± 0.06 | 0.75 ± 0.09 | 0.04 |
| Methacholine PC20 | 1.97 ± 1.32 | 0.85 ± 1.89 | 0.15 |
| Exercise challenge. mean ± SD | |||
| Maximum fall in FEV1 (%) | 2.7 ± 2.9 | 24.7 ± 8.8 | <0.0001 |
| Severity of EIB (AUC30) | −0.9 ± 71.3 | 544.3 ± 251.2 | <0.0001 |
| Induced sputum markers, mean ± SD | |||
| T2GM | −0.76 ± 0.67 | −0.15 ± 0.37 | 0.04 |
| Sputum eosinophils, ×103/ml | 7.3 ± 6.9 | 11.9 ± 11.3 | 0.30 |
| Sputum eosinophils, % | 1.48 ± 1.47 | 1.46 ± 1.76 | 0.99 |
| Airway wall morphometry, mean ± SD | |||
| Epithelial MCs, no./mm2 | 31.4 ± 43.8 | 262.2 ± 171.4 | 0.004 |
| Subepithelial MCs, no./mm2 | 377.0 ± 276.6 | 559.3 ± 478.4 | 0.35 |
| Epithelial EOS, no./mm2 | 5.4 ± 8.4 | 20.1 ± 23.1 | 0.07 |
| Subepithelial EOS, no./mm2 | 1,795.3 ± 1,962.6 | 3,461.8 ± 5,121.1 | 0.32 |
| Allergen skin prick testing, mean ± SD | |||
| No. of positive allergens | 4.0 ± 5.0 | 7.4 ± 2.8 | 0.11 |
Definition of abbreviations: AUC30 = area under the curve of FEV1 versus time curve during exercise challenge; BMI = body mass index; EIB = exercise-induced bronchoconstriction; EOS = eosinophils; MCs = mast cells; PC20 = provocative concentration required to reduce FEV1 by 20%; T2GM = type-2 gene mean.
Values are expressed as means ± SD for continuous variables and number and relative frequencies for categorical variables. P values represent the result of unpaired t tests.