TABLE 5.

CORRELATIONS AMONG LUNG FUNCTIONS, INFLAMMATORY PARAMETERS, AND Arg AVAILABILITY

		Nonsevere Asthma				Severe Asthma
Parameters	Statistic*	%FEV1	%ΔFEV1	FEV1/FVC	PC20	%FEV1	%ΔFEV1	FEV1/FVC	PC20
Inflammatory
Eosinophils in blood, %	R	−0.124	0.122	−0.063	−0.271	0.036	−0.023	0.025	−0.171
	P	0.122	0.129	0.434	0.001	0.743	0.832	0.819	0.220
Eosinophils in BAL, %	R	−0.272	0.126	−0.373	−0.204	0.109	−0.181	−0.130	−0.273
	P	0.086	0.433	0.017	0.212	0.638	0.446	0.574	0.325
IgE	R	−0.055	0.159	−0.141	−0.244	−0.026	0.072	−0.021	−0.211
	P	0.495	0.046	0.076	0.004	0.811	0.509	0.847	0.129
No. of positive skin tests	R	−0.175	−0.169	−0.238	−0.173	−0.118	0.094	−0.278	−0.019
	P	0.027	0.034	0.002	0.040	0.272	0.387	0.021	0.906
FeNO, ppb	R	0.147	0.175	−0.223	−0.318	−0.111	0.069	−0.184	0.186
	P	0.063	0.028	0.005	0.0001	0.302	0.523	0.086	0.177
Metabolic†
Arginase activity	R	0.051	−0.120	−1.083	0.042	−0.337	0.242	−0.278	−0.019
	P	0.546	0.160	0.330	0.637	0.005	0.047	0.021	0.906
Arg/(Orn + Cit)	R	−0.029	−0.016	0.183	0.378	0.468	−0.316	0.447	−0.268
	P	0.820	0.903	0.154	0.006	0.004	0.057	0.006	0.241
Arg/(MMA + ADMA)	R	−0.164	0.034	−0.073	0.15	0.283	−0.259	0.280	−0.010
	P	0.203	0.793	0.575	0.293	0.089	0.122	0.094	0.964

Definition of abbreviations: ADMA = asymmetric dimethylarginine; Arg = arginine; BAL = bronchoalveolar lavage; Cit = citrulline; Fe_NO = fraction of exhaled nitric oxide; MMA = monomethylarginine; Orn = ornithine; PC₂₀ = provocative concentration of methacholine causing a 20% fall in FEV₁; %ΔFEV₁ = % change in FEV₁; %FEV₁ = FEV₁, % predicted; SDMA = symmetric dimethylarginine.

Values in bold indicate R values of Spearman correlations with significant P < 0.05.

^*R and P values represent Spearman correlation coefficient and significance, respectively.

^†Metabolic parameters are measured in serum.