Table 1 Clinical characteristics and sputum cell numbers by asthma inflammatory subtypes

N

5

18

29

28

Sex (m/f)

4/1

8/10

15/14

12/16

0.461

Age (y)

64 ± 11

62 ± 12

58 ± 14

61 ± 8

0.518

BMI

28 ± 3.6

30 ± 6.7

33 ± 7.0

30 ± 6.8

0.270

Atopy (y/n)

4/0

19/6

22/6

14/1

0.390

Ex-smoker (y/n)

3/2

11/17

10/19

6/11

0.741

Pack years

3 (2.3,17)

28 (14,49)

9.3(1,42)

15 (3.6,26)

0.772

FEV₁ predicted (%)

64 (51,64)

65 (51,71)

80 (71,84) ^¶*§

69 (54,78)

0.007

FEV₁/FVC (%)

72 (67,79)

77 (68,86)

86 (76,95)

78 (71,88)

0.157

ACQ6

1.2 (1.2,1.3)

1.8 (1.3,2.3)

1.7 (1.3,2.2)

1.5 (1.2,2.4)

0.264

ICS/LABA, n (%)

5 (100%)

18 (100%)

27 (93%)

2 (86%)

0.291

ICS dose

1000 (1000,2000)

2000 (1000,2000)

1000 (800,2000)

1600 (800,2000)

0.767

Total cell counts (10⁶/mL)

8.2 (8.1,17)

12 (8.8,29)^#▽

5.4 (3.8,11)

6.2 (2.5,9.5)

0.001

Viability (%)

90 (85,91)

89 (83,93)

79 (64,86)

74 (62,84)

0.001

Neutrophils (10⁶/mL)

5.8 (5.1,13)^#▽

10 (6.7,24)^¶#▽

1.6 (1.0,3.3)

1.9 (0.5,3.5)

<0.001

Eosinophils (10⁶/mL)

0.4 (0.3,1.5)^†#

0.1 (0.0,0.2)

0.0 (0.0,0.1)

0.6 (0.3,2.0) ^#§

<0.001

Macrophages (10⁶/mL)

2.3 (2.0,2.7)

2.4 (1.5,3.9)

3.2 (1.9,6.0)^▽

1.6 (1.0,3.5)

0.014

Lymphocytes (10⁶/mL)

0.2 (0.1,0.2)^*

0.1 (0.0,0.3)

0.0 (0.0,0.04)

0.0 (0.0,0.1)

0.009

Serum gal-3 (ng/mL)

2.1 (2.0-2.1) N = 2

1.4 (1.1-2.0) N = 13

1.5 (1.0-1.9) N = 21

1.4 (1.1-1.8) N = 21

0.480

Serum gal-3BP (mg/mL)

2.9 (2.8-3.1)

3.4 (3.3-5.8)

4.5 (2.9-6.0)

3.9 (2.9-5.2)

0.575