TABLE 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients at entry.
| Healthy control subject | Patients with severe asthma | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| N | 17 | 112 | |
| Age, years | 37.0 (32.0–49.5) | 63.0 (53.0–73.0) | <0.0001 |
| Female/male, n (%) | 5 (29.4)/12 (70.6) | 63 (56.2)/49 (43.8) | 0.03 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 22.4 (20.4–23.3) | 23.2 (21.3–25.3) | NS |
| Smoking history, no/past/present, n (%) | 10 (59.0) | 68 (60.7) | NS |
| /6 (35.0) | /37 (33.1) | ||
| /1 (6.0) | /7 (6.2) | ||
| Duration of asthma (y) | NA | 14 (6–24) | NA |
| Allergic rhinitis, n (%) | 4 (24) | 59 (52.6) | 0.02 |
| Chronic sinusitis, n (%) | 0 (0) | 25 (22.3) | 0.03 |
| Atopic dermatitis, n (%) | 0 (0) | 12 (10.7) | NS |
| Urticaria, n (%) | 0 (0) | 5 (4.4) | NS |
| LABA/LAMA/LTRA/theophylline, n (%) | NA | 108 (96.4) | NA |
| /40 (35.7) | |||
| /99 (88.3) | |||
| /78 (69.6) | |||
| ICS dose (μg/d) | NA | 1,000 (800–1,000) | NA |
| Oral corticosteroids, n (%) | NA | 36 (32.1) | NA |
| Oral corticosteroids, mg/day | NA | 0 (0–4) | NA |
| Biological treatment before the entry, n (%) | NA | 9 (8.0) | NA |
| Log total IgE, IU/L | 1.76 (1.3–2.1) | 2.3 (2.0–2.8) | 0.0009 |
| Blood eosinophil count, /μL | 106 (52–177) | 271 (89–585) | 0.01 |
| FeNO, ppb | 13 (13–25) | 25 (14–85) | 0.01 |
| Sputum eosinophil ratio, % | 0.9 (0.2–2.0) | 2.2 (0.4–16.6) | 0.02 |
| Sputum neutrophil ratio, % | 47.5 (29.2–60.3) | 40.1 (26.1–57.1) | NS |
| FEV1, % of predicted | 94.8 (14.3) | 82.2 (20.5) | 0.01 |
| FVC, % of predicted | 99.0 (15.1) | 82.3 (20.5) | NS |
| FEV1/FVC, % | 82.3 (4.8) | 68.3 (14.1) | <0.0001 |
Significant p values are shown in bold. The parametric data are expressed as mean (SD); nonparametric data are expressed as median (25%–75%). The Student t-test and the Mann–Whitney U-test were performed for parametric continuous variables and nonparametric variables, respectively. Categorical variables were tested by the χ2 test or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate.
ICS, inhaled corticosteroid (fluticasone propriate); 2 μg beclomethasone = 2 μg budesonide = 1 μg fluticasone propriate; 100 μg fluticasone furoate = 500 μg fluticasone propriate.
LABA, long-acting b2-agonist; LAMA, long-acting muscarinic antagonist; LTRA, leukotriene receptor antagonist; NA, not applicable; FeNO, fractional exhaled nitric oxide; y, years.