Table 2 Anti‐P aeruginosa antibodies in patients with CF correlated with P aeruginosa status defined retrospectively.
| Antibodies against | P aeruginosa status according to culture results | Comparison* (p values) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free (F) (N = 68) | Intermittent (I) (N = 27) | Chronic (C) (N = 88) | F v I | I v C | C v F | |
| Alkaline protease (AP) | ||||||
| Frequency of antibody positive (n/N) | 1/68 | 7/27 | 66/88 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Elastase (E) | ||||||
| Frequency of antibody positive (n/N) | 0/68 | 4/27 | 57/88 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Exotoxin A (EA) | ||||||
| Frequency of antibody positive (n/N) | 3/68 | 11/27 | 73/88 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Cumulative score (AP/E/EA) | ||||||
| Frequency of antibody score ⩾1 (n/N) | 3/68 | 13/27 | 86/88 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
Antibody titres were scored as 0 (titre negative <1:500) and 1 (titre positive >1:500).
*Mann‐Whitney test for comparison of antibody levels and Fisher's exact test for comparison of frequency of patients with antibody score ⩾1, corrected for multiple comparisons by Bonferroni method.