Myofibroblast expression in airways and alveoli is affected by smoking and COPD

Respiratory Research

Table 2 Characteristics of immunohistochemical findings in alveoli, bronchioles and bronchi

		Non-smoker (n = 11)	Smoker with normal lung function (n = 41)	Smoker with COPD (n = 49)
ALVEOLUS
Area of peripheral specimen, cm ²
Min		1.4	1.3	1.6
Max		4.8	4.4	4.7
Median		2.8	2.9	2.9
Percentiles	25	2.0	2.4	2.5
	50	2.8	2.9	2.9
	75	3.3	3.3	3.5
α -SMA in widened tips/cm ²
Min		23	6.7	1.4
Max		210	97	77
Median		39	23	14
Percentiles	25	28	11	8.5
	50	39	23	14
	75	98	37	23
Tn-C in widened tips/cm ²
Min		1.5	0	0.7
Max		28	44	44
Median		7.0	8.9	10
Percentiles	25	4.5	5.8	4.2
	50	7.0	8.9	10
	75	17	18	19
EDA-Fn in widened tips/cm ²
Min		0	0	0
Max		2.0	26	13
Median		0.4	1.3	1.8
Percentiles	25	0	0.3	0.7
	50	0.4	1.3	1.8
	75	1.8	7.7	5.6
BRONCHIOLE
No of bronchioles
Min		4.0	1.0	0
Max		30	25	23
Median		11	8.5	7.0
Percentiles	25	9.0	6.0	5.0
	50	11	8.5	7.0
	75	19	14	11
α -SMA positivity
Min		0.8	0	0
Max		1.6	1.6	2.0
Median		1.1	0.8	1.0
Percentiles	25	0.9	0.5	0.6
	50	1.1	0.8	1.0
	75	1.3	1.0	1.4
Tn-C positivity		negative	negative	negative
EDA-Fn positivity		negative	negative	negative
BRONCHUS
Epithelium length, mm
Min		11	9.7	5.7
Max		62	67	77
Median		30	36	35
Percentiles	25	21	27	28
	50	30	36	35
	75	45	50	46
α-SMA positive area, mm²/mm
Min		0	0	0
Max		0.04	0.10	0.20
Median		0.01	0.02	0.03
Percentiles	25	0.003	0.005	0.01
	50	0.012	0.02	0.03
	75	0.032	0.05	0.07
Tn-C, no of patients (%)
basal cells + BM		9 (90%)	14 (34%)	17 (35%)
basal cells + BM + stroma		0 (0%)	25 (61%)	25 (52%)
basal cells + BM + widely stroma		1 (10%)	2 (5%)	6 (13%)
EDA-Fn positivity		negative	negative	negative

α-SMA Alpha-smooth muscle actin, Tn-C Tenascin-C, EDA-Fn Extra type III domain A – fibronectin.

ISSN: 1465-993X