Figure 3. Frequencies of macrophage and monocyte subsets in the induced sputum and peripheral blood (A) Gating strategy used to identify polarized phenotypes of sputum macrophages. The total macrophages in CD45⁺ cells were gated as CD15⁻CD68⁺ cells, after which M1 macrophages, M2 macrophages, and AMs were identified on the basis of CD11c and CD206 expression. (B) Frequencies of the 3 macrophage populations in the sputum of the HC (n=15) and asthma patients (n=41). (C) Gating strategy used to identify peripheral blood monocyte subsets. The total monocytes in CD45⁺ cells were gated as CD15⁻CD11b⁺ cells, after which classical (CD14^hiCD16^low), intermediate (CD14^hiCD16^hi), and non-classical monocyte (CD14^lowCD16^hi) subsets were identified on the basis of their CD14 and CD16 expression. (D) Frequencies of the 3 monocyte subsets in the blood of HC (n=21) and asthma patients (n=62). The healthy control and asthmatic groups were compared by either the Mann-Whitney U test or unpaired t-tests. Each dot represents one human sample. The data are presented as mean±SD.

n.s., not significant.