Table 4. Markers with significant differences between groups.
| Analyte | Sample matrix | M | Unit | First visit | Second visit | LME-ANOVA | ||
| healthy smokers | COPD smokers | healthy smokers | COPD smokers | p-value | ||||
| TCC | BAL | 106/mL | 0.2 (0.2–0.4) | 0.2 (0.1–0.3) | 0.2 (0.1–0.3) | 0.2 (0.1–0.3) | m: 0.008. f:0.0418 | |
| CD14+ MONO | BAL | F | % TC | 1.5 (1.2–2.5) | 1.1 (0.6–1.6) | 1.8 (1.3–2.5) | 0.9 (0.5–1.0) | m: 0.0001. f:0.61 |
| CD14+ MONO | BAL | F | 103/mL | 2.7 (1.6–7.4) | 2.4 (0.4–5.8) | 3.9 (2.6–6.0) | 1.5 (0.5–3.8) | m: 0.00045. f:0.11 |
| a1-Antitrypsin | BAL | E | ng/ml | 795 (531–1022) | 512 (328–724) | 650 (358–1074) | 345 (275–480) | m: 0.004. f:0.95 |
| EGF-R | BAL | E | pg/ml | 67.3 (53.4–90.3) | 56.7 (35.4–72.1) | 82.6 (61.6–100.0) | 55.5 (40.2–87.4) | m: 0.001.f:0.55 |
| HSA | BAL | E | µg/ml | 16.8 (12.5–23.9) | 11.7 (7.9–12.9) | 17.8 (13.0–22.4) | 10.5 (9.2–15.2) | m: 1.12e-05. f:0.44 |
| TIMP-1 | BAL | E | ng/ml | 2.4 (1.8–3.3) | 3.2 (2.2–4.7) | 2.7 (1.8–3.3) | 4.8 (2.4–8.5) | 0.016 |
| a1-Antitrypsin | BAL/TP | E | pg/µg | 9.9 (8.1–11.2) | 7.7 (5.7–10.6) | 8.5 (6.6–11.7) | 6.1 (4.4–7.5) | 0.004 |
| Calprotectin | BAL/TP | E | ng/µg | 0.7 (0.4–1.4) | 1.2 (0.8–1.5) | 0.7 (0.4–1.1) | 0.9 (0.7–1.1) | m: 0.016. f:0.59 |
| EGF-R | BAL/TP | E | pg/µg | 1.0 (0.8–1.2) | 0.9 (0.6–1.0) | 1.0 (0.8–1.2) | 0.8 (0.7–1.0) | 0.016 |
| HSA | BAL/TP | E | ng/µg | 245 (226–268) | 185 (169–208) | 253 (184–283) | 183 (140–215) | 1.62E-05 |
| IL-8 | BAL/TP | Lu | pg/µg | 0.3 (0.2–0.4) | 0.4 (0.3–0.8) | 0.2 (0.2–0.4) | 0.5 (0.3–0.7) | 0.025 |
| TIMP-1 | BAL/TP | E | ng/µg | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 0.1 (0.0–0.1) | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 0.1 (0.0–0.1) | 0.000 |
| ANISOCYTOSIS | blood | H | % | 44.2 (42.4–46.8) | 46.6 (44.9–47.7) | 45.9 (44.1–46.8) | 46.8 (45.7–47.7) | 0.014 |
| CREATINE KIN. | blood | Ch | U/L | 125.0 (96.5–173.0) | 89.5 (67.8–126.3) | 124.0 (91.0–179.0) | 83.0 (65.0–95.0) | 0.007 |
| MCV | blood | H | FL | 89.9 (88.2–90.9) | 94.0 (91.2–95.2) | 90.0 (88.6–91.5) | 93.5 (91.0–96.7) | 0.008 |
| a1-Antitrypsin | serum | E | µg/ml | 1.39 (1.31–1.49) | 1.47 (1.33–1.70) | 1.90 (1.27–2.12) | 2.27 (1.57–2.43) | m: 0.014. f:0.57 |
| CRP | serum | Lu | ng/ml | 301 (146–474) | 540 (368–1018) | 232 (110–569) | 823 (373–1047) | 0.000 |
| HGF | serum | Lu | pg/ml | 317 (244–391) | 419 (300–568) | 311 (217–407) | 414 (322–501) | 0.022 |
| IL-6 | serum | Lu | pg/ml | 6.9 (4.0–12.0) | 12.7 (7.9–23.3) | 5.0 (2.0–10.1) | 15.8 (9.0–30.0) | 0.002 |
| LTB4 | serum | E | µg/ml | 1.23 (1.10–1.35) | 1.26 (1.06–1.58) | 1.21 (1.12–1.36) | 1.40 (1.29–1.66) | m: 0.0051. f:0.72 |
| vWF | serum | E | mU/ml | 1586 (1248–2077) | 2089 (1838–2296) | 1523 (984–1778) | 1860 (1562–2301) | 0.003 |
| a1-Antitrypsin | ISP | E | ng/ml | 992 (630–1173) | 568 (363–716) | 625 (453–1014) | 540 (432–693) | 0.008 |
| HSA | ISP | E | µg/ml | 34.1 (26.9–44.5) | 13.1 (8.9–25.4) | 27.6 (17.6–40.2) | 17.7 (7.6–23.4) | m: 0.0016. f:0.57 |
| MMP 3 | ISP | Lu | pg/ml | 28.0 (15.7–42.7) | 22.4 (11.8–33.2) | 40.6 (21.6–56.5) | 22.9 (14.5–42.7) | m: 0.009. f:0.29 |
| a1-Antitrypsin | ISP/TP | E | ng/µg | 2.4 (2.1–3.1) | 1.6 (1.3–2.1) | 2.1 (1.6–2.6) | 1.5 (1.3–1.9) | m: 0.0006. f:0.728 |
| HSA | ISP/TP | E | ng/µg | 77.3 (66.0–99.8) | 50.1 (32.9–70.2) | 77.0 (56.8–89.4) | 54.7 (27.0–65.5) | m: 0.001. f:0.50 |
| CREATININE | urine | EP | mg/dl | 160 (125–206) | 140 (96–230) | 189 (130–272) | 128 (48–190) | m: 0.42. f:0.002 |
Data presented as median (IQR). LME-ANOVA p-value: COPD smokers vs. healthy smokers. M = Method of analysis, TP = normalized to total protein, BAL = bronchoalveolar lavage, ISP = induced sputum, F = Flow cytometry, E = ELISA, Lu = Luminex, H = Hematology, Ch = blood chemistry, EP = Laboratory Eipper Besenthal, Tübingen, Germany.