Table 2.
BAL Characteristics of Participants Grouped by American Thoracic Society–defined Asthma Severity
| HCs (1) | Mild–Mod No ICS (2) | Mild + ICS (3) | Mod + ICS (4) | Severe (5) | P Value | Significant Intergroup Differences (Bonferroni Corrected)* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL cell count, cells × 104/ml | 7.2 ± 1.1 | 9.9 ± 1.1 | 8.4 ± 1.7 | 10.6 ± 1.9 | 5.7 ± 1.1 | 0.06 | NS |
| BAL mac, cells × 104/ml, mean ± SE (mean %) | 6.3 ± 1.1 (87) | 8.8 ± 1.1 (89) | 7.2 ± 1.6 (85) | 9.4 ± 1.7 (87) | 4.8 ± 1.1 (81) | 0.01† | |
| (2) > (5) | |||||||
| (non-SA) > (SA) | |||||||
| BAL lymph, cells × 104/ml, mean ± SE (mean %) | 0.7 ± 0.1 (9.6) | 0.6 ± 0.1 (8.9) | 0.9 ± 0.2 (10.5) | 0.9 ± 0.2 (9.9) | 0.5 ± 0.1 (11.2) | 0.79 | NS |
| BAL neu, cells × 104/ml, mean ± SE (mean %) | 155 ± 51 (2.9) | 210 ± 51 (1.8) | 169 ± 75 (2.4) | 187 ± 83 (1.9) | 269 ± 51 (6.2) | 0.0005† | (5) > (1) |
| (5) > (2) | |||||||
| (5) > (3) | |||||||
| (5) > (4) | |||||||
| BAL eos, cells × 104/ml, mean ± SE (mean %) | 65 ± 21 (0.7) | 31 ± 21 (0.5) | 92 ± 31 (1.8) | 83 ± 34 (0.9) | 87 ± 21 (1.8) | 0.33 | NS |
Definition of abbreviations: eos = eosinophils; HCs = healthy control subjects; ICS = inhaled corticosteroids; lymph = lymphocytes; mac = macrophages/monocytes; Mod = moderate; Mod + ICS = moderate asthma on inhaled corticosteroids; neu = neutrophils; non-SA = subjects with nonsevere asthma; NS = not significant; SA = severe asthma.
*
All significant intergroup differences listed achieved a Bonferroni-corrected P value of P ≤ 0.005.
†
Based on differences in mean percentage.