Table 1.
Characteristics of 130 subjects at the time of bronchoscopy by risk group
| MA risk groups | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Control | Case NMA | Case MA |
| (n = 42) | (n = 56) | (n = 32) | |
| Age (mean y ± SD) | 37.45 ± 11.75 | 41.41 ± 12.24 | 37.56 ± 13.39 |
| Gender (% female) | 62 | 79 | 66 |
| Ethnicity (%) (Af Am/Eur Am/Other) | 64/29/7 | 55/45/0** | 66/34/0* |
| Percent smoker at bronchoscopy (%) | 17 | 4* | 6 |
| Clinical measures | |||
| ICS use (%) | — | 75 | 75 |
| OCS use (%) | — | 45 | 25 |
| STEP category (% mild/% moderate/% severe) |
— | 22/23/55 | 28/25/47 |
| Mean FEV1% predicted (± SD) | 95.36 ± 11.63 | 75.45*** ± 19.73 | 70.41*** ± 18.15 |
| Mean FEV1/FVC (± SD) | 0.82 ± 0.05 | 0.73*** ± 0.10 | 0.83*** ± 0.48 |
| Median total serum IgE (IU/mL) (lower, upper quartile) |
56.50 (22.00, 169.00) |
117.50 (22.00, 305.25) |
156.50** (70.25, 626.75) |
| Median FeNO (ppb) (lower, upper quartile)† |
14.00 (10.50, 17.75) |
23.50** (13.00, 45.75) |
27.00** (13.25, 54.75) |
| Median BAL eosinophilia (%) (lower, upper quartile)‡ |
0.0 (0.0, 0.4) |
2.9*** (1.5, 5.6) |
3.6*** (1.5, 7.1) |
| Median BAL neutrophilia (%) (lower, upper quartile)§ |
4.9 (3.0, 5.9) |
5.2 (4.2, 6.8) |
3.5 (2.2, 6.4) |
| Median blood eosinophilia (cells/µL) (lower, upper quartile)¶ |
70 (100, 170) |
170 (70, 283) |
225*** (108, 323) |
| Mean BMI (± SD) | 28.52 ± 5.71 | 34.64*** ± 8.83 | 33.68* ± 10.48 |
Severity was defined by STEP classification (18) of mild, moderate and severe asthma. Af Am, African American; Eur Am, European American; ICS, inhaled corticosteroid; OCS, oral corticosteroid. Asthma cases without an asthmatic mother (Case NMA) and cases with an asthmatic mother (Case MA) were each compared with controls (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001). Continuous variables were tested with a Wilcoxon rank-sum test and categorical variables were tested using a Fisher’s exact test. See SI Appendix, Table S1 for all pairwise comparisons.
†Fifty-two Case NMA subjects and 30 Case MA subjects had FeNO measurements.
‡Forty-one controls and 55 Case NMA had BAL eosinophil measurements.
§Forty-one controls and 55 Case NMA subjects had BAL neutrophil measurements.
¶Forty-one controls had blood eosinophil measurements.