Table 3.
Clinical information of the patients included in induced sputum experiments
| Non-smokers | Smokers | stable COPD | COPD exa | p-value | |
| Total (n) | 15 | 11 | 17 | 7 | |
| Male/Female | 11/4 | 9/2 | 11/6 | 5/2 | |
| Age (years) | 57 (6) | 51 (6) | 61 (8) | 61 (7) | |
| Pack years | 0 | 31 (10) | 40 (15) | 35 (7) | p < 0.0001 |
| FEV1 (l) | 3.6 (0.6) | 3.9 (0.9) | 2.2 (0.8) | 1.1 (0.7) | p < 0.0001 |
| FEV1 (% of ref) | 101 (10) | 98 (11) | 67 (20) | 35 (20) | p < 0.0001 |
| FEV1/FVC (%) | 81 (5) | 81 (4) | 66 (12) | 47 (9) | p < 0.0001 |
| DCO (% of ref) | 97 (9) | 87 (12) | 64 (16) | 36 (22) | p < 0.0001 |
| DCO/VA (% of ref) | 105 (10) | 94 (9) | 75 (21) | 48 (28) | p < 0.0001 |
Data is shown as mean (SD), as % of reference where applicable. None of the patients with stable disease were on oral or inhaled corticosteroids. The stable COPD represented patients with mild stage 0–I COPD and COPD exa group represented patients with COPD exacerbation as described. Oral corticosteroid and antibiotic had been started to all patients with COPD exacerbation within the last 48 hours. None of the patients were on N-acetylcysteine or vitamins.