. 2025 Aug 22;15:30929. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-16776-x

Table 3.

Associations between inflammatory markers and respiratory symptoms stratified by smoking status (odds ratios (OR) per unit with 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for gender, age, body mass index and study site).

	Cough w/o cold		Chronic cough		Phlegm w/o cold		Chronic phlegm		Wheeze		mMRC ≥ 2
	OR (95%CI)	p-value	OR (95%CI)	p-value	OR (95%CI)	p-value	OR (95%CI)	p-value	OR (95%CI)	p-value	OR (95%CI)	p-value
Never smokers
Total WBC (10⁹/L)	1.06 (1.00, 1.12)	0.069	1.04 (0.95, 1.15)	0.360	0.99 (0.88, 1.12)	0.896	1.00 (0.86, 1.16)	0.993	1.01 (0.90, 1.12)	0.894	1.06 (0.91, 1.24)	0.449
Neutrophils (10⁹/L)	1.21 (1.08, 1.35)	0.001	1.07 (0.80, 1.45)	0.639	0.97 (0.75, 1.25)	0.787	0.99 (0.71, 1.39)	0.960	0.93 (0.73, 1.18)	0.564	1.57 (1.07, 2.29)	0.021
Lymphocytes (10⁹/L)	0.98 (0.89, 1.09)	0.744	1.04 (0.94, 1.16)	0.440	0.97 (0.78, 1.19)	0.759	1.00 (0.83, 1.20)	0.994	1.01 (0.89, 1.16)	0.840	0.84 (0.50, 1.38)	0.483
NLR	1.16 (1.02, 1.32)	0.025	0.82 (0.55, 1.22)	0.323	0.90 (0.66, 1.22)	0.501	0.80 (0.51, 1.25)	0.331	0.73 (0.53, 1.02)	0.063	1.58 (1.07, 2.33)	0.022
Monocytes (10¹⁰/L)	1.06 (0.97, 1.15)	0.180	1.16 (0.94, 1.42)	0.162	1.11 (0.93, 1.32)	0.261	1.15 (0.92, 1.44)	0.231	1.06 (0.90, 1.25)	0.514	1.13 (0.86, 1.49)	0.376
Eosinophils (10¹⁰/L)	1.14 (1.04, 1.24)	0.005	1.05 (0.86, 1.28)	0.642	1.25 (1.08, 1.43)	0.002	0.96 (0.74, 1.24)	0.744	1.23 (1.07, 1.42)	0.003	0.95 (0.72, 1.26)	0.720
Basophils (10¹⁰/L)	1.29 (0.96, 1.74)	0.097	0.74 (0.33, 1.67)	0.469	0.60 (0.29, 1.25)	0.172	0.33 (0.11, 1.03)	0.055	1.25 (0.68, 2.28)	0.475	1.30 (0.45, 3.73)	0.631
Former smokers
Total WBC (10⁹/L)	1.09 (0.97, 1.22)	0.158	1.16 (1.00, 1.35)	0.058	1.14 (1.01, 1.29)	0.032	1.14 (0.98, 1.32)	0.081	1.26 (1.11, 1.44)	< 0.001	1.25 (1.04, 1.50)	0.020
Neutrophils (10⁹/L)	1.20 (1.02, 1.41)	0.026	1.29 (1.05, 1.59)	0.015	1.33 (1.12, 1.57)	0.001	1.33 (1.09, 1.62)	0.005	1.36 (1.14, 1.62)	0.001	1.57 (1.19, 2.07)	0.002
Lymphocytes (10⁹/L)	0.92 (0.70, 1.20)	0.526	1.01 (0.73, 1.42)	0.932	0.85 (0.60, 1.20)	0.353	0.86 (0.55, 1.34)	0.505	1.12 (0.90, 1.39)	0.327	0.97 (0.64, 1.45)	0.871
NLR	1.17 (0.98, 1.41)	0.088	1.15 (0.89, 1.49)	0.278	1.29 (1.07, 1.56)	0.009	1.27 (1.01, 1.60)	0.043	1.08 (0.89, 1.32)	0.430	1.45 (1.09, 1.94)	0.012
Monocytes (10¹⁰/L)	1.02 (0.90, 1.16)	0.726	1.02 (0.85, 1.23)	0.848	1.03 (0.90, 1.18)	0.619	0.98 (0.82, 1.16)	0.778	1.15 (1.01, 1.31)	0.036	1.32 (1.04, 1.67)	0.024
Eosinophils (10¹⁰/L)	1.10 (0.95, 1.27)	0.200	1.12 (0.91, 1.37)	0.275	1.09 (0.93, 1.27)	0.289	1.09 (0.90, 1.33)	0.371	1.37 (1.17, 1.60)	< 0.001	1.04 (0.77, 1.40)	0.811
Basophils (10¹⁰/L)	1.06 (0.68, 1.67)	0.788	1.10 (0.57,2.14)	0.769	1.24 (0.77, 2.00)	0.384	1.78 (0.98, 3.25)	0.058	2.11 (1.31, 3.41)	0.002	1.81 (0.74, 4.40)	0.193
Current smokers
Total WBC (10⁹/L)	1.40 (1.11, 1.78)	0.005	0.99 (0.69, 1.42)	0.952	1.32 (1.04, 1.68)	0.021	1.00 (0.72, 1.40)	0.998	1.07 (0.86, 1.33)	0.558	1.08 (0.68, 1.72)	0.749
Neutrophils (10⁹/L)	1.49 (1.10, 2.01)	0.010	0.82 (0.50, 1.37)	0.456	1.28 (0.95, 1.73)	0.109	0.82 (0.52, 1.30)	0.399	1.07 (0.80, 1.42)	0.650	1.15 (0.61, 2.19)	0.667
Lymphocytes (10⁹/L)	1.76 (0.97, 3.21)	0.064	1.92 (0.72, 5.12)	0.195	2.04 (1.08, 3.88)	0.029	1.91 (0.80, 4.53)	0.143	1.00 (0.56, 1.79)	0.994	0.80 (0.24, 2.70)	0.719
NLR	1.28 (0.86, 1.91)	0.226	0.51 (0.18, 1.45)	0.207	1.14 (0.74, 1.75)	0.563	0.73 (0.35, 1.52)	0.405	1.18 (0.79, 1.78)	0.415	1.65 (0.85, 3.19)	0.138
Monocytes (10¹⁰/L)	1.24 (0.99, 1.55)	0.058	1.07 (0.73, 1.56)	0.724	1.16 (0.92, 1.46)	0.214	1.04 (0.74, 1.46)	0.805	1.14 (0.91, 1.41)	0.254	1.27 (0.77, 2.09)	0.345
Eosinophils (10¹⁰/L)	0.94 (0.70, 1.27)	0.682	0.81 (0.44, 1.47)	0.486	1.17 (0.86, 1.60)	0.308	0.91 (0.58, 1.44)	0.686	1.26 (0.93, 1.70)	0.141	1.10 (0.58, 2.06)	0.776
Basophils (10¹⁰/L)	2.56 (1.12, 5.86)	0.026	3.98 (0.89, 17.86)	0.071	6.27 (2.10, 18.73)	0.001	6.12 (1.36, 27.56)	0.018	1.89 (0.85, 4.22)	0.121	4.44 (0.77, 25.63)	0.095

mMRC = modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale, WBC = white blood cells, NLR = neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio. CI of ORs not including 1 are in bold.