Table 2.
Baseline characteristics for COPD subjects, healthy smoking and healthy non-smoking controls in Cohort A (n = 30, 10 and 10, respectively *).
| Characteristics | COPD (n = 30) |
HS (n = 10) |
HNS (n = 10) |
p-Value (COPD vs. HS) |
p-Value (COPD vs. HNS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender (% Male) | 80.0 | 50.0 | 50.0 | 0.10 | 0.10 |
| Age | 67.7 (6.7) | 59.4 (7.7) | 53.6 (7.2) | 0.01 | <0.01 |
| Smoking Status (Current %) | 30.0 | 50.0 | n/a | 0.28 | n/a |
| Pack Years | 51.2 (22.0) | 27.9 (11.1) | 0.04 (0.1) | <0.01 | <0.01 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 26.9 (5.0) | 24.5 (2.7) | 28.1 (3.8) | >0.99 | >0.99 |
| Retrospective Exacerbation Rate (1-year period) | 1.0 [0.0–11.0] | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 0 (%) | 37.9 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 1 (%) | 20.7 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| ≥2 (%) | 41.4 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Post FEV1 (L) | 1.5 (0.6) | 2.7 (0.7) | 3.1 (0.7) | <0.01 | <0.01 |
| Post FEV1 (%) | 56.2 (19.6) | 94.9 (8.7) | 101.6 (12.5) | <0.01 | <0.01 |
| Post FEV1/FVC Ratio (%) | 41.5 (12.1) | 72.7 (3.8) | 75.9 (3.5) | <0.01 | <0.01 |
| Gold Category (%) | |||||
| 1 | 10.0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 2 | 56.7 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 3 | 23.3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 4 | 10.0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| CAT | 22.5 (7.2) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| mMRC | 3.0 [1.0–4.0] | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| SGRQ-C (Total) | 57.2 (18.3) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| ICS Use (n) | 26 + | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Sputum Characteristics | |||||
| Neutrophil (%) | 83.7 [24.5–99.8] | 69.1 [38.3–86.8] | 66.4 [55.0–82.0] | 0.14 | 0.07 |
| Macrophage (%) | 9.9 [0.3–67.8] | 28.4 [11.5–40.5] | 29.6 [17.0–43.0] | 0.02 | <0.01 |
| Eosinophil (%) | 1.8 [0.0–13.2] | 0.3 [0.0–33.3] | 0.1 [0.0–2.5] | 0.25 | <0.01 |
| Lymphocyte (%) | 0.0 [0.0–2.0] | 0.0 [0.0–0.5] | 0.0 [0.0–0.8] | >0.99 | >0.99 |
| Epithelial (%) | 2.2 [0.0–14.0] | 0.9 [0.0–2.0] | 0.9 [0.8–4.0] | 0.11 | 0.57 |
| TCC × 106/g | 7.9 [0.7–35.3] | 6.2 [2.0–13.2] | 6.8 [4.4–12.6] | 0.86 | >0.99 |
| Neutrophil cell × 106/g | 7.1 [0.3–31.2] | 3.4 [1.2—8.9] | 5.3 [2.5–8.9] | 0.56 | >0.99 |
| Macrophage cell × 106/g | 0.8 [0.0–7.1] | 1.4 [0.3–4.0] | 2.0 [0.9–4.4] | 0.79 | 0.07 |
| Eosinophil cell × 106/g | 0.2 [0.0–2.1] | 0.0 [0.0–2.8] | 0.0 [0.0–0.2] | 0.19 | 0.01 |
| Lymphocyte cell × 106/g | 0.0 [0.0–0.3] | 0.0 [0.0–0.0] | 0.0 [0.0–0.1] | >0.99 | >0.99 |
| Epithelial cell × 106/g | 0.1 [0.0–2.3] | 0.0 [0.0–0.3] | 0.1 [0.0–0.9] | 0.05 | >0.99 |
* The following data were not available for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) subjects; 2 St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ-C), 2 sputum differential cell counts and 7 sputum absolute counts. + Further details on inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) use are available in Table S11 . Data presented as mean (SD) or median [range] as appropriate. Healthy smoker (HS) and Healthy non-smoker (HNS) compared to COPD using ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc analysis or Kruskal-Wallis with Dunns post-hoc analysis or Kruskal-Wallis with Dunns post-hoc analysis as appropriate. Categorical data were compared between groups using a Fischer’s exact test. ns: non-significant. Spirometric measurement are post-bronchodilator values for COPD and pre-bronchodilator values reported for HS and HNS. TCC—Total cell count.