Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of 4 groups of COPD patients based on their red hue of macrophages and AUC of sputum eosinophil %/year
| A (n = 10) High sputum eosinophils, low red hue | B (n = 16) High sputum eosinophils, high red hue | C (n = 19) Low sputum eosinophils, low red hue | D (n = 58) Low sputum eosinophils, high red hue | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Male, n (%) |
6 (60) |
13 (81.25) |
8 (42.1) |
42 (72.4) |
0.06 |
|
Age (years)* |
64 (3.3) |
67 (2.3) |
65 (2.4) |
70 (1.2) |
0.17 |
|
Body mass index (kg/m
2
) |
26 (23–28) |
23 (20–26) |
25 (23–33) |
27 (23–30) |
0.09 |
|
Pack years smoked |
49 (36–58) |
47 (25–66) |
47 (34–60) |
48 (32–64) |
0.96 |
|
COPD duration (years) |
4.7 (2.9-10) |
8.5 (2.0-12) |
4.8 (2.1-6.7) |
4.9 (2.8-8.1) |
0.67 |
|
Exacerbations/yr |
0.7 (0–1.8) |
0.8 (0.1-1.4) |
1.2 (0–1.9) |
0.8 (0–1.6) |
0.51 |
|
ICS dose (BDP equivalent) (mcg/day) |
2000 (2000–2000) |
2000 (1000–2000) |
2000 (800–2000) |
1300 (800–2000) |
0.26 |
|
FEV
1
% predicted, (%) |
62 (43–75) |
44 (32–58) |
43 (26–67) |
55 (42–71) |
0.16 |
|
FEV
1
post bronchodilator (L) |
1.7 (1.2-1.9) |
1.1 (0.91-1.6) |
0.87 (0.73-1.6) |
1.4 (1–1.9) |
0.13 |
|
Post FEV
1
/FVC (%)* |
55 (5.4) |
50 (3.3) |
51 (4.2) |
53 (1.6) |
0.73 |
|
Reversibility, % |
3.5 (-7.1- 8) |
4.3 (1.5- 13) |
4.5 (-2.2- 14) |
1.5 (-4.4- 7.5) |
0.33 |
|
GOLD 1, n (%) |
1 (10) |
1 (6) |
5 (26) |
8 (14) |
0.38 |
|
GOLD 2, n (%) |
7 (70) |
6 (38) |
3 (16) |
26 (45) |
0.02 |
|
GOLD 3, n (%) |
0 (0) |
7 (44) |
4 (21) |
19 (33) |
0.02 |
|
GOLD 4, n (%) |
2 (20) |
2 (13) |
7 (37) |
5 (9) |
0.05 |
|
Sputum TCC ×10
6
/g |
1.2 (0.41-2) |
5.3 (2.1-8.2) |
1.6 (0.94-4.5) |
3.4 (1.7-7.6) |
0.002 |
|
Sputum neutrophils (%) |
45 (6.3) |
59 (6.1) |
66 (5.3) |
63 (2.7) |
0.07 |
|
Sputum eosinophils (%) |
9 (1.6-35) |
14 (4.9-24) |
0.5 (0.25-2.8) |
1 (0.3-2.1) |
<0.0001 |
|
Sputum eosinophil AUC (%/yr) |
6.8 (4.2-11) |
5.9 (4.2-8.3) |
0.5 (0.2-1.6) |
0.78 (0.3-1.5) |
<0.0001 |
|
% of red hue of macrophages |
2.3 (1.6-3.7) |
27 (11–35) |
3.4 (1.8-5.3) |
16 (9.1-27) |
<0.0001 |
|
Blood neutrophils (×10
9
/L) |
5.1 (3.5-5.8) |
4.8 (3.8-5.9) |
5.9 (4.7-6.3) |
5.3 (3.9-6.1) |
0.13 |
|
Blood eosinophils (×10
9
/L) |
0.38 (0.24-0.46) |
0.41 (0.26-0.56) |
0.16 (0.09-0.25) |
0.18 (0.12-0.30) |
<0.0001 |
|
CRP (mg/dl) |
5 (2.5-5.3) |
5 (<5-7) |
5 (2.5-11) |
5 (<5-11) |
0.08 |
|
Bacterial colonisation, n (%) |
1 (10) |
1 (6) |
8 (44) |
12 (21) |
0.04 |
|
CFU unit/ml** |
6.2 (5.8-6.6) |
6.1 (5.5-6.7) |
6.6 (6.3-7) |
6.2 (5.9-6.4) |
0.19 |
|
MRC Dyspnoea Scale |
3 (2–4) |
3 (2–4) |
3 (2.5-4.5) |
3 (2–4) |
0.82 |
|
SGRQ symptoms |
61 (37–80) |
65 (29–82) |
73 (55–84) |
62 (50–77) |
0.34 |
|
SGRQ activity |
76 (35–89) |
73 (48–85) |
73 (59–92) |
67 (48–86) |
0.55 |
|
SGRQ impacts |
31 (16–58) |
44 (20–66) |
42 (29–47) |
32 (23–51) |
0.86 |
|
SGRQ total score |
50 (30–67) |
55 (32–71) |
57 (49–65) |
50 (37–65) |
0.75 |
|
CRQ emotional functioning |
4.7 (3.4-5.8) |
4.3 (3.9-6.3) |
4.4 (3.9-5.3) |
4.5 (3.6-5.6) |
0.83 |
|
CRQ fatigue |
3.8 (3.4-4.9) |
3.3 (2.8-5.3) |
4.0 (2.3-4.8) |
3.5 (2.5-4.8) |
0.51 |
|
CRQ dyspnoea |
4 (3–4.9) |
3.4 (2.6-4.2) |
3 (2.2-4) |
3.4 (2.2-4.4) |
0.28 |
|
CRQ mastery |
5.4 (4.4-6.4) |
5.0 (3.8-6.3) |
4.0 (3.8-5.5) |
5.3 (3.7-6.1) |
0.63 |
|
CRQ total score |
4.4 (3.7-5.2) |
4.1 (3.4-4.9) |
4.0 (3.1-4.6) |
4.2 (3.1-5.0) |
0.50 |
|
VAS cough (mm) |
17 (10–43) |
35 (14–52) |
47 (18–62) |
34 (13–54) |
0.23 |
|
VAS dyspnoea (mm) |
40 (4.8-59) |
43 (32–81) |
51 (35–62) |
46 (22–65) |
0.40 |
|
VAS sputum production (mm) |
15 (4.5-42) |
36 (19–52) |
38 (93–66) |
28 (12–63) |
0.40 |
| VAS sputum purulence (mm) | 14 (2–61) | 17 (1–45) | 38 (15–62) | 21 (9.5-41) | 0.41 |
Data presented as median (IQR) unless stated, *mean (SEM), **Geometric mean of Log data (95% CI). SEM: standard error of mean, CI: confidence interval. Abbreviations:AUC Area under the curve, BDP Beclometasone dipropionate, CFU Colony forming unit, CRP C-reactive Protein, CRQ Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire, FEV 1 Forced expiratory volume in 1 second, FVC Forced vital capacity, GOLD Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease, ICS Inhaled corticosteroids, MRC Medical Research Council, SGRQ St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire, VAS Visual analogue score, yr Year.