Table I.
Baseline demographic characteristics (n=87)
| Subject group (n) | Healthy Controls (26) | Mild/no ICS (n=16) | Mild-Mod/ICS (n=16) | Severe Asthma (n=29) | Overall Difference (p-value) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic | |||||
| Age (y) | 27 (24–35) | 24 (20–31) | 31 (25–44) | 43 (34–55) | <0.001 |
| Sex (male/female) | 15/11 | 5/11 | 3/13 | 8/21 | 0.038 |
| Race (CA/AA/other) | 20/1/5 | 11/2/3 | 7/7/2 | 23/4/2 | 0.12 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 24 (22–29) | 27 (24–31) | 27 (26–34) | 32 (26–37) | 0.001 |
| Exhaled NO (ppb) | 22 (15–40) | 40 (26–54) | 25 (16–35) | 38 (22–75) | 0.01 |
| Blood eosinophils (/ul) | 100 (100–200) | 200 (100–300) | 200 (100–300) | 300 (100–500) | 0.04 |
| Baseline FEV1 (%pred) | 95 (90–105) | 89 (85–97) | 89 (66–104) | 59 (45–71) | <0.001 |
| Serum IgE(kU/L) | 31 (15–83) | 98 (52–334) | 142 (42–430) | 172 (38–600) | <0.001 |
Definition of abbreviations: CA=Caucasians,; AA= African American; BMI= body mass index; %pred=percent predicted; IgE= immunoglobulin E; ppb= parts per billion. Categorical analyses were performed using Pearson chi-square tests. Continuous variables were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis tests and presented as medians (25th–75th percentile).