Table 1. Baseline characteristics of participants according to age and Treg function.
| Characteristics | Asthma | P value | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL (n = 8) | AH (n = 8) | YL (n = 10) | YH (n = 6) | Overall | AL vs. AH | YL vs. YH | ||
| Demographics | ||||||||
| Age | 68.1 ± 3.98 | 65.5 ± 4.11 | 33 ± 5.73 | 25.8 ± 4.32 | < 0.01 | 0.22 | 0.10 | |
| Female | 6 (75.0) | 4 (50.0) | 7 (70.0) | 4 (66.7) | 0.79 | 0.61 | 1 | |
| Atopy | 5 (62.5) | 7 (87.5) | 10 (100) | 6 (100) | 0.09 | 0.57 | ||
| Comorbidity Index score | 4.13 (2.59) | 3 (1.07) | 0.20 (0.42) | 0 (0.00) | < 0.01 | 0.28 | 0.17 | |
| Smoking status | ||||||||
| Never smoked | 5 (62.5) | 4 (50.0) | 8 (80.0) | 5 (83.3) | 0.49 | 1 | 1 | |
| Past smoker | 3 (37.5) | 4 (50.0) | 2 (20.0) | 1 (16.7) | 0.49 | 1 | 1 | |
| Pack years | 3.68 ± 5.06 | 6.38 ± 2.79 | 1.80 ± 1.13 | 0 | 0.30 | 0.59 | ||
| Asthma history | ||||||||
| Age of asthma onset | 36.8 ± 18.6 | 26.7 ± 27.1 | 4.60 ± 4.27 | 5.17 ± 2.32 | < 0.01 | 0.43 | 0.74 | |
| Years with asthma | 32.5 ± 17.2 | 38.9 ± 23.7 | 28.5 ± 7.79 | 22.5 ± 4.18 | 0.27 | 0.57 | 0.07 | |
| Positive family history of asthma | 4 (50.0) | 5 (62.5) | 8 (80.0) | 5 (83.3) | 0.36 | 1 | 1 | |
| Spirometry (FEV1/FVC) | 89.9 ± 8.72 | 83.0 ± 10.6 | 91.1 ± 10.5 | 89.5 ± 8.87 | 0.35 | 0.18 | 0.75 | |
| Peripheral Treg function | ||||||||
| AUC | 4.3 ± 4.9 | 39.5 ± 19.7 | 4.1 ± 3.7 | 60.6 ± 16.8 | < 0.01 | < 0.01 | < 0.01 | |
| Sputum differential (%) | ||||||||
| Macrophages | 58.6 (43.1–80.1) | 77.9 (73.3–82.9) | 95.8 (90.0–97.2) | 88.5 (87.7–91.1) | 0.03 | 0.22 | 0.36 | |
| Neutrophils | 24.1 (13.0–41.7) | 17.3 (13.9–21.0) | 2.51 (1.49–8.12) | 6.93 (6.84–9.02) | 0.04 | 0.34 | 0.36 | |
| Eosinophils | 9.79 (2.04–13.3) | 2.72 (2.15–3.59) | 1.02 (0.16–1.93) | 1.18 (0.99–1.64) | 0.05 | 0.28 | 0.58 | |
| Lymphocytes | 0.57 (0.53–0.77) | 0.50 (0.45–0.90) | 0.58 (0.48–0.71) | 0.61 (0.53–0.82) | 0.93 | 0.56 | 0.71 | |
| Treg frequency | ||||||||
| Sputum Tregs, % Foxp3+, CD127low | 17.8 (15.9–18.9) | 5.70 (5.09–7.49) | 8.06 (5.75–15.9) | 6.45 (5.16–7.20) | 0.36 | 0.12 | 0.56 | |
| Peripheral Tregs, % Foxp3+, CD127low | 5.06 (3.16–8.10) | 7.55 (5.55–13.9) | 5.29 (3.37–8.22) | 15.6 (10.6–28.9) | 0.55 | 0.63 | 0.14 | |
Data are presented in absolute numbers (%), mean ± standard deviation or median (interquartile range). Bold-faced values are significant.
AL, aged low-T regulatory cell; AH, aged high-T regulatory cell; YL, younger low-T regulatory cell; YH, younger high-ET regulatory cell; Treg, T regulatory cell; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 second; FVC, forced vital capacity; AUC, area under curve.