Table 2.

Differential cell counts (cytospins) in induced sputum

	Healthy	Asthma
Total cells (105)	7·20 (1–20)	7·10 (1–20)
Neutrophil %	43·84 (25–65)	48·60 (40–57)
Macrophage/monocyte %	53·07 (34–71)	38·3 (34–41)
Lymphocyte %	0·48 (0·2–0·8)	0·72 (0·4–1·3)
Eosinophil %	0·97 (0–2)	1·43 (0·13–2·73)
Epithelial cells %	1·57 (0·5–3·2)*	9·57 (5·5–12·5)*

Data are expressed as mean (range) *P < 0·05.