TABLE 2.
Demographics and clinical characteristics of patients with asthma in the subgroups classified by type 2 biomarker at entry.
| FeNOlo | FeNOhi | FeNOlo | FeNOhi | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B-EOSlo | B-EOSlo | B-EOShi | B-EOShi | ||
| N (%) | 29 (25.8) | 24 (21.4) | 28 (25.0) | 31 (27.8) | |
| Age, years | 64.0 (47.0–72.0) | 58.5 (50.5–73.0) | 63.0 (55.7–73.5) | 66.0 (54.0–73.0) | NS |
| Female/male, n (%) | 22 (75.8)/7 (24.2) | 8 (33.3)/16 (66.7) | 15 (53.5)/13 (46.4) | 18 (58.0)/13 (42.0) | NS |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 23.4 (20.5–24.5) | 24.2 (21.7–27.1) | 23.3 (21.9–24.8) | 22.3 (20.1–24.2) | NS |
| Smoking history, no/past/present, n (%) | 20 (69.0)/9 (31.0)/0 (0) | 13 (54.1)/9 (37.6)/2 (8.3) | 16 (57.1)/10 (35.8)/2 (7.1) | 19 (61.2)/9 (29.2)/3 (9.6) | NS |
| Duration of asthma (y) | 10 (5–26) | 15 (4–30) | 14 (8–18) | 14 (4–24) | NS |
| Allergic rhinitis, n (%) | 15 (51.7) | 15 (62.5) | 15 (53.5) | 14 (45.1) | NS |
| Chronic sinusitis, n (%) | 3 (10.3) | 4 (16.7) | 8 (28.5) | 10 (32.2) | NS |
| Atopic dermatitis, n (%) | 4 (13.7) | 2 (8.3) | 3 (10.7) | 3 (9.6) | NS |
| Urticaria, n (%) | 2 (6.8) | 1 (4.2) | 1 (3.5) | 1 (3.2) | NS |
| Previous annual number of asthma exacerbations | 0 (0–5) | 3 (1–6) *,† | 1 (0–2) | 1 (0–4) | 0.04 |
| LABA/LAMA/LTRA/theophylline, n (%) | 26 (89.6)/8 (27.5) | 24 (100)/12 (50.0) | 28 (100)/6 (21.4) | 30 (96.7)/14 (45.1) | NS |
| 25 (86.2)/19 (65.5) | 21 (87.5)/18 (75.0) | 26 (92.8)/18 (64.2) | 27 (87.1)/23 (74.1) | ||
| ICS dose (μg/d) | 1,000 (800–1,000) | 1,000 (800–1,000) | 1,000 (800–1,000) | 900 (800–1,000) | NS |
| Oral corticosteroids, n (%) | 15 (51.7)** | 9 (37.5) | 5 (17.8) | 7 (22.5) | 0.02 |
| Oral corticosteroids, mg/day | 1.0 (0–20) | 0 (0–20) | 0 (0–5) | 0 (0–20) | NS |
| Biologics before entry, n (%) | 3 (3.4) | 5 (20.9) | 0 (0) | 1 (3.2) | NS |
| Omalizumab/mepolizumab/benralizumab before entry, n (%) | 1 (3.4)/1 (3.4)/1 (3.4) | 1 (4.1)/2 (8.3)/2 (8.3) | 0 (0)/0 (0)/0 (0) | 1 (3.2)/0 (0)/0 (0) | NS |
| Log total IgE, IU/L | 2.0 (1.8–2.4) | 2.6 (2.1–3.2)‡ | 2.3 (1.8–2.7) | 2.4 (2.1–2.9) ‡‡,†† | 0.006 |
| Blood eosinophil count, /μL | 79 (36–174) | 113 (61–187) ‡‡‡ | 484 (331–692) ‡‡‡,§ | 662 (487–1,061) ‡‡‡ | <0.0001 |
| FeNO, ppb | 11 (6–16) | 88 (42–131) ‡‡‡,††† | 18 (11–21) | 86 (41–121) ‡‡‡,††† | <0.0001 |
| Sputum eosinophil ratio, % | 0.2 (0–1.4) | 4.6 (1.7–11.0) | 5.3 (0.3–23.8) ‡‡‡ | 14.3 (1.9–29.7) ‡‡‡/§§ | <0.0001 |
| Sputum neutrophil ratio, % | 53.8 (34.2–65.9) | 36.3 (25.6–67.4) | 39.1 (18.7–51.2) | 35.1 (25.5–51.0) | NS |
| FEV1, % of predicted | 85.5 (18.7) | 82.9 (20.6) | 80.0 (24.1) | 81.0 (19.7) | NS |
| FVC, % of predicted | 95.2 (18.9) | 92.3 (15.8) | 85.0 (25.9) | 89.2 (18.1) | NS |
| FEV1/FVC, % | 72.7 (17.6) | 66.8 (11.7) | 69.1 (13.7) | 65.1 (12.2) | NS |
Significant p values are shown in bold. The parametric data are expressed as mean (SD); nonparametric data are expressed as median (25%–75%). Oral corticosteroid doses are expressed as median (min–max). ANOVA and the Kruskal–Wallis 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. Further exploration of the results with significant differences in the initial analyses was performed by post hoc pairwise analyses with Bonferroni correction or by the Mann–Whitney U-test as appropriate.
FeNOlo, low FeNO; FeNOhi, high FeNO; B-EOSlo, low B-EOS; B-EOShi, high B-EOS.
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.
*p = 0.04, **p = 0.01; FeNOhi/B-EOShi.
†p = 0.01, ††p = 0.03, †††p < .0001; vs. FeNOlo/B-EOShi.
‡p = 0.01, ‡‡p = 0.005, ‡‡‡p < .0001; vs. FeNOlo/B-EOSlo.
§p < .0001, §§p = 0.03; vs. FeNOhi/B-EOSlo.