TABLE 3.
The impact of sensitisation to moulds/Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxins (SEs) (≥0.10 UA·mL−1) on clinical outcomes
| All participants, except where noted | Moulds/SEs+ | Moulds/SEs− | Healthy subjects | p-value# | p-value¶ moulds/SEs+versus− |
p-value¶ moulds/SEs+versus H |
p-value¶ moulds/SEs−versus H |
|
| Subjects n | 84 | 19 | 37 | 28 | ||||
| Systemic biomarkers | ||||||||
| Blood eosinophil count per µL++ | 246 (143, 526) | 449 (191, 737) | 198 (117, 361) | 0.01 | ||||
| Serum total IgE IU·mL−++,†+ | 137 (26, 431) | 513 (389, 1020) | 69 (24, 172) | 44 (11, 357) | 0.004 | <0.0001 | 0.0002 | 0.99 |
| Serum periostin ng·mL−1++,+ | 86 (74, 108) | 112 (93, 159) | 80 (73, 97) | 84 (74, 101) | 0.009 | 0.008 | 0.01 | 0.95 |
| Upper airway markers | ||||||||
| Sinus eosinophils per HPF+ | 66 (20, 168) | 100 (56, 178) | 60 (12, 156) | 0.17 | ||||
| Nasal polyps, presence§ | 38 (68) | 15 (79) | 23 (62) | 0.24 | ||||
| Nasal polyps, eosinophils per HPF§ƒ | 85 (6, 145) | 125 (65, 262) | 33 (1, 97) | 0.007 | ||||
| Eosinophilic CRS, presence++ | 33 (59) | 15 (79) | 18 (49) | 0.04 | ||||
| Lund–Mackay score++ | 12 (7, 16) | 14 (9,17) | 11 (7, 16) | 0.41 | ||||
| SNOT-22 score | 15 (3, 35) | 35 (23, 53) | 22 (12, 41) | 2 (0, 4) | <0.0001 | 0.21 | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| Open Essence score | 7 (3, 9) | 4 (0, 8) | 5 (1, 8) | 9 (7, 10) | <0.0001 | 0.98 | 0.002 | <0.0001 |
| Lower airway markers | ||||||||
| AQLQ points## | 5.8 (5.5, 6.7) | 5.9 (5.2, 6.7) | 5.6 (5.5, 6.7) | 0.91 | ||||
| Sputum eosinophils %¶¶ | 0 (0, 3.2) | 5.5 (1.8, 57.5) | 0 (0, 2.8) | 0 (0, 0.4) | 0.0005 | 0.01 | 0.0006 | 0.29 |
| Sputum periostin ng·mL−1¶¶ | 7.1 (1.5, 16.3) | 23.0 (11.7, 42.9) | 9.0 (2.0, 14.9) | 1.6 (0.5, 3.4) | <0.0001 | 0.004 | <0.0001 | 0.001 |
| FeNO ppb | 25.8 (17.7, 38.7) | 41.7 (27.9, 73.8) | 26.2 (18.4, 38.0) | 20.6 (16.1, 26.2) | 0.0003 | 0.04 | 0.0001 | 0.13 |
Data are presented as median (25th percentile, 75th percentile) or n (%), unless otherwise stated. Moulds: Alternaria and Aspergillus; SEs, Staphylococcus enterotoxins A and B; H: healthy subjects; HPF: high-power field; eosinophilic CRS: defined when eosinophils in sinus or NP tissue show ≥70 HPF; SNOT-22: Sinonasal Outcome Test-22; AQLQ: Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire; FeNO: fractional nitric oxide (could not measure FeNO in one patient because of apparatus failure). #: Analysed by Kruskal–Wallis test; ¶: Analysed by Steel–Dwass analysis, Wilcoxon rank-sum test or Fischer's exact test; +: n=56; §: n=54 (moulds/SEs+/–: 18/36); ƒ: n=38 (moulds/SEs+/–: 15/23); ##: n=20 (moulds/SEs+/–: 13/7); ¶¶: n=65 (moulds/SEs+/–: 15/30, H: 20); ++: n=76 (CRS/H: 56/20).