Figure 6.

Semi-quantitative image analyses of PAS-stained epithelium. (A) The epithelial areas of interest for non-smokers (circles, n = 7), smokers without COPD (triangles, n = 7), and COPD patients (squares, n = 6) were determined with a computerized image analysis system, as described in Methods. Group mean values are shown by horizontal lines. * p ≤ 0.05, ** p ≤ 0.01, Student’s t-test. (B) Correlation between CLCA1 expression and PAS-stained areas in airway epithelium (Pearson’s r = 0.67, ** p ≤ 0.01).