Figure 2. PBMCs from allergic asthma patients constitute a unique population. PBMCs were isolated from whole blood by use of Ficoll hypaque density gradient separation and stained with antibody against CD4 (Th2) and CD11a. The samples were analyzed by flow cytometry. (A) PBMCs from asthma patients showed a distinct population of CD4^–CD11a^hi cells (boxed in red) that was absent in the healthy subjects. (B) Samples were analyzed for the presence of the CD4^–CD11a^hi population among the CD11a-positive cells in allergic asthma patients and healthy controls. The significance of the differences was determined by use of Student’s t-test.