Table 1 Clinical, functional and inflammatory characteristics of bronchial secretions in patients with representative sputum samples* (n=133)

Patient characteristics

Age (years), mean (SD)

70 (9)

Males, n (%)

124 (93)

Smoking pack-years, median (P25-P75)

67 (43-102)

Current smoker, n (%)

35 (27)

Exacerbation last year ≥1, n (%)

45 (34)

FEV₁ post-BD % pred, mean (SD)

52 (16)

Sputum characteristics

Neutrophils/ml ×10⁶, median (P25-P75)

6.4 (1.7-17.1)

Neutrophils %, median (P25-P75)

72 (48-84)

IL-1β (pg/ml), median (P25-P75)

209 (52-695)

IL-6 (pg/ml), median (P25-P75)

124 (54-259)

IL-8 (×10³) (pg/ml), median (P25-P75)

11 (4-16)

Colonized by PPMs, n (%)

39 (29.3)

Colonized by H. influenzae, n (%)

22 (17)

Bacterial load of H. influenzae x10⁶ (cfu/ml), median (P25-P75) ^†*

5.4 (1-12)