Table 3.

Sputum inflammatory cells and mediators in AECOPD with positive or negative bacterial culture results

	Positive bacterial culture (n = 6)	Negative bacterial culture (n = 16) †	Significance
Sputum TCC ×106/mL	45.5 (20.2–203.0)	11.7 (1.7–295.6)	P = 0.01
Sputum neutrophil, %	92 (72–98)	81 (10–93)	P = 0.02
Sputum neutrophils, ×106/mL	41.1 (19.8–146.2)	9.7 (2.21–248.3)	P = 0.01
Sputum SLPI, µg/mL	1.3 (0.5–3.5)	5.2 (0.4–118.8)	P = 0.047
Sputum IL‐8, µg/mL	449 (210–1354)	110 (8.4–4430)	P = 0.03
Sputum TNF‐α, pg/mL	6675 (400–10 700)	850 (0–10 490)	P = 0.02

^† Sputum differential cell counts in the non‐infected patients are based on the 16 subjects from whom good quality cytospins were obtained. Data are median values and ranges. TCC, total cell count; SLPI, secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor; TNF‐α, tumour necrosis factor‐α.