Table 1. Characteristics of subjects who provided blood for ex vivo mycotoxin exposures.
| Mold-Exposed Patients (n = 27) | Unexposed Controls (n = 17) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Age range, years (mean ± SD) | 27–64 (50 ± 8) | 18–63 (41 ± 16) | |
| Gender | |||
| Female | 14 (52%) | 5 (29%) | |
| Male | 13 (48%) | 12 (71%) | |
| Ethnicity | |||
| Hispanic | 4 (15%) | 0 (0%) | |
| African-American | 1 (4%) | 8 (47%) | |
| Asian | 3 (11%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Caucasian | 19 (70%) | 9 (53%) | |
| Smokers | 2 (7%) | 4 (24%) | |
| Non-smokers | 25 (93%) | 13 (76%) | |
| Methacholine challenge | Not done | ||
| Normal | 16 (66%) | ||
| Abnormal | 8 (33%) | ||
| Refused | 3 |
We defined a positive methacholine response as a response to NaCl or any dose of methacholine up to 16 mg/ml leading to an FEV1 decrease of 20% or more from baseline.