TABLE 3.
BIOMARKERS IN SUBSET OF SUBJECTS*
| Cluster 1 |
Cluster 2 |
Cluster 3 |
Cluster 4 |
Cluster 5 |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | Value | n | Value | n | Value | n | Value | n | Value | P Value | |
| PC20 methacholine†, mg/ml | 100 | 1.17 (0.73) | 268 | 1.12 (0.67) | 39 | 2.32 (0.60) | 64 | 0.73 (0.71) | 15 | 0.72 (0.86) | 0.007 |
| FeNO†, ppb | 90 | 32.8 (0.36) | 257 | 28.0 (0.37) | 47 | 24.8 (0.36) | 93 | 26.8 (0.37) | 84 | 29.3 (0.41) | 0.40 |
| Blood/serum | |||||||||||
| Total IgE†, IU/ml | 91 | 141 (0.71) | 257 | 125 (0.71) | 47 | 54 (0.82) | 90 | 132 (0.65) | 87 | 98 (0.62) | 0.008 |
| % Eosinophils† | 96 | 0.2 (0.42) | 272 | 0.2 (0.5) | 51 | 0.2 (0.42) | 106 | 0.3 (0.46) | 97 | 0.2 (0.6) | 0.29 |
| Sputum induction | 63 | 160 | 30 | 60 | 44 | ||||||
| % Eosinophils‡ | 0.7 (0.2–4.4) | 0.7 (0.1–3.7) | 1.9 (0.0–4.5) | 1.5 (0.3–7.9) | 1.2 (0.0–10.1) | 0.05 | |||||
| % Neutrophils‡ | 23.3 (7.4–42.9) | 33.0 (15.7–51.7) | 37.6 (12.7–66.4) | 34.7 (15.2–65.7) | 48.3 (25.7–80.3) | 0.001 | |||||
Definition of abbreviation: FeNO = fractional concentration of nitric oxide in exhaled air; PC20 = concentration of methacholine that causes a 20% fall in FEV1.
*
Subjects with FEV1 less than 55% predicted pretesting were excluded from methacholine challenge and sputum induction.
†
Data expressed as geometric mean (log 10 SD).
‡
Data expressed as median (interquartile range).