Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics of study participants.
| Parameter | Units | Healthy controls | Asthmatics EOS High | Asthmatics EOS Low | |||
| mean (±SEM) | mean (±SEM) | mean (±SEM) | |||||
| No. of participants | M/F | 6/3 | 4/7 | 6/6 | |||
| Visit 1 | Visit 2 | Visit 1 | Visit 2 | Visit 1 | Visit 2 | ||
| Age | years | 37.9 (3.6) | 39.0 (3.6) | 38.7 (3.4) | 40.1 (3.4) | 39.8 (2.5) | 40.9 (2.5) |
| BMI | 24.2 (0.7) | 26.3 (1.8) | 27.3 (1.6) | ||||
| FeNO | ppb | 15.9 (1.8); n = 7 | 16.8 (2.2) | 48.4 (13.6); n = 9 | 28.1 (6.6) | 23.8 (3.8) | 22.2 (4.8) |
| FEV1, predicted | % | 102.1 (4.4) | 94.5 (3.1); n = 8 | 99.4 (3.1) | 94.2 (4.1) | 94.7 (3.7) | 88.4 (4.6); n = 11 |
| FEV1 reversibility | % | 6.3 (1.2) | 12.6 (4.5); n = 10 | 7.5 (2.1)¶¶ | |||
| Methacholine, PD20 | µg | ¶ | 268.8 (126.7) | 613.7 (131.5); n = 11 | |||
| C-reactive protein | mg/L | 3.0 (1.9) | 2.3 (0.8) | 1.4 (0.6) | |||
| Blood eosinophils | x109/L | 0.12 (0.02) | 0.13 (0.02) | 0.37 (0.03)†*** | 0.32 (0.03)†*** | 0.10 (0.01) | 0.14 (0.02) |
| Blood neutrophils | x109/L | 3.26 (0.25) | 3.78 (0.42) | 3.36 (0.28) | 3.48 (0.31) | 3.35 (0.28) | 3.42 (0.34) |
| Blood basophils | x109/L | 0.01 (0.01) | 0.01 (0.01) | 0.05 (0.02) | 0.04 (0.02) | 0.02 (0.01) | 0.01 (0.01) |
| Blood monocytes | x109/L | 0.38 (0.05) | 0.39 (0.05) | 0.47 (0.04) | 0.40 (0.05) | 0.40 (0.03) | 0.35 (0.03) |
| Blood lymphocytes | x109/L | 1.94 (0.13) | 1.98 (0.20) | 1.99 (0.12) | 2.27 (0.15) | 1.82 (0.09) | 2.04 (0.17) |
| Sputum eosinophils | % of total cells | 0.70 (0.35); n = 8 | 7.62 (2.89)††* | 1.80 (0.58); n = 11 | |||
| NAL eosinophils | % of total cells | 0.96 (0.40); n = 8 | 3.87 (1.45); n = 10 | 1.54 (1.01) | |||
| Skin prick test | +/− | 0/9 | 8/3 | 9/3 | |||
| Medication | |||||||
| Inhaled steroids¶¶¶ | Yes | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| No | 9 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 9 | |
| Intermittently | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| β2-agonist¶¶¶¶ | Yes | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| No | 9 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | |
| Intermittently | 0 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | |
| Combination medication¶¶¶¶¶ | Yes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| No | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | |
| Intermittently | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
¶
Non-reactive to methacholine up to a dose of 1.96 mg.
¶¶
One individual, not subjected to methacholine, was selected based on FEV1 reversability with a value of 25%.
¶¶¶
Budesonide 400 µg/day at visit 2for all users, except one individual in EOS low group with a usage of 200 µg/day.
¶¶¶¶
Short acting β2-agonist is most frequently used.
¶¶¶¶¶
Budesonide 320 µg/day at visit 2 for all users.
†
Statistically significant in comparison with EOS low and healthy controls (***P<0.001).
††
Statistically significant in comparison with healthy controls (*P<0.05).