Network analysis of quantitative proteomics on asthmatic bronchi: effects of inhaled glucocorticoid treatment

Respiratory Research

Table 1 Clinical characteristics of healthy subjects and asthmatics

Variables	Healthy subjects	Asthmatics	p value
Subjects (male/female)	3 (0/3)	12 (2/10)
Age (years) ^§	55 (42-67)	57 (38-67)	0.825
Disease duration (years) ^§	0	8 (0.5-20)	na
Body Mass Index ^§	30.9 (24.1-34.9)	31.5 (19.4-41.4)	0.897
FVC (% pred.) ^#	118 ± 8	86 ± 6	0.035
FEV ₁ /FVC ^#	0.85 ± 0.01	0.81 ± 0.03	0.61
PD20 (mg of methacholine) ^#	neg. or not performed	0.13 ± 0.05^□	na
Documented SPT positivity	0	8^¤

The baseline clinical characteristics of all subjects showed a statistically significant difference in FVC % predicted between the two groups, using a Student's t-test. No differences were seen in the other variables. A p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant (shown in bold).
Abbreviations: FEV1 = forced expiratory volume in 1 sec; FVC = forced vital capacity; PD20 = provocative dose of methacholine producing a 20% decrease in FEV1; F_ENO = fractional exhaled nitric oxide; SPT = skin prick test; na = not applicable; ^§ = data presented as mean (range); ^# = data presented as mean ± standard error of the mean; ^□ = n = 10 (1 patient was negative, 1 patient was not tested) ^¤ = 2 patients were negative, 2 patients were not tested, but had no clinical history of allergy.

ISSN: 1465-993X