Table 3 Clinical characteristics and sputum cell numbers in asthma inflammatory phenotypes

Number

38

4

9

38

Age (years)

47.08 ± 13.54^{△ ※}

64.25 ± 6.75

56.22 ± 11.92^§

55.18 ± 12.18^§

0.007

Male (%)

15 (39.5)

1 (25.0)

4 (44.4)

17 (44.7)

0.899

BMI (kg/m2)

23.97 ± 3.20

22.44 ± 3.02

25.77 ± 3.74

23.44 ± 3.70

0.271

ACQ† [21]

2.0 (2.0, 3.0)

1.5 (1.0, 2.0)

2.0 (0.3, 2.8)

2.0 (1.0, 2.0)

0.930

ACT† [22]

15 (12, 18)

17.5 (5.5, 19.0)

18 (12, 22.5)

17 (13, 21.75)

0.222

AQLQ† [23]

4 (4, 5)

5 (5, 5)

5 (5, 7)

5 (4, 5)

0.409

Rhinitis (%)†

13 (37.1)

1 (25)

4 (44.4)

17 (44.7)

0.208

Anxiety† [24]

5 (0, 7)

2 (0, 5)

0 (0, 11)

4 (0, 6)

0.473

Depression† [25]

3 (0, 7)

3 (0, 7)

0 (0, 7)

1 (0, 5)

0.771

Ex-smoker (%)†

16 (43.2)

3 (75.0)

6 (66.7)

13 (34.2)

0.154

Smoking index†

0 (0, 6.9)

12.4 (2.4, 33.8)

1.0 (0.0, 32.5)

0.0 (0.0, 19.5)

0.323

Post-bronchodilator FEV1 (L) †

2.33 (2.08, 3.13)

0.67 (0.67, 1.61)

2.27 (1.64, 2.92)

2.42 (1.38, 3.04)

0.538

Post-bronchodilatorFEV1/pred (%)†

87 (70.8, 97.7)

29.3 (27.65, 68.9)

81.4 (57.6, 99.15)

90.8 (54.1, 100.4)

0.634

Post-bronchodilator FVC (L) †

3.74 (3.11, 4.48)

1.9 (1.71, 2.61)

3.44 (3.07, 3.78)

3.67 (2.39, 4.18)

0.892

Post-bronchodilator FVC/pred (%)†

106.67 ± 24.46

73.33 ± 36.35

94.2 ± 24.95

100.59 ± 26.84

0.633

FeNO (ppd) †

42.4 (32.65, 131.5)^△

23 (18, 76)

72.4 (38, 108.2)

37 (22.7, 47.45) §

0.195

ICS/LABA, n (%)†

37 (97.3)

4 (100)

9 (100)

28 (73.7)

0.239

ICS dose (μg)†

400 (400, 500)

450 (400, 500)

400 (325, 500)

500 (400, 800)

0.319

 Total cells(10⁶/mL) †

3.6 (1.8, 5.4)

3.0 (0.75, 7.55)

2.9 (1.8, 3.6)

2.9 (1.8, 5.4)

0.812

 Neutrophils (10⁶/mL) †

0.07 (0.01, 1.38) ^#※

2 (0.61, 4.59) ^△§

1.83 (1.32, 2.65) ^△§

0.06 (0.01, 0.48) ^#※

<0.001

 Neutrophils, %, †

4.0 (1.2, 10.0) ^#※

65.25 (61.0, 82.4) ^△§

70(63.3, 73.4) ^△§

2.2 (0.6, 24.0) ^#※

<0.001

 Eosinophils (10⁶/mL) †

0.82 (0.21, 1.37) ^#※△

0.01 (0, 0.13) ^§

0.12 (0.09, 0.22) ^§

0 (0, 0.04) ^§

<0.001

 Eosinophils, %, †

17.0 (8.7, 40.1) ^#※△

1.6 (0.2, 2.8) ^§

4.9 (3.3, 13.1) ^§

0.2 (0, 1.0) ^§

<0.001

 Macrophages (10⁶/mL) †

1.55 (0.31, 3.51) ^#※△

0.56 (0.01, 1.16) ^§※

0.47 (0.11, 0.77) ^§※

1.91 (0.56, 4.52) ^{§ #※}

<0.001

 Macrophages, %, †

58.3 (37.3, 80.5) ^#※△

15.1 (7.8, 24.8)^§※

21.3 (11.4, 28.0) ^§※

85.4 (49.1, 95.6) ^{§ #※}

<0.001

 Lymphocytes (10⁶/mL) †

0.03 (0, 0.15)

0.21 (0.01, 0.66)

0 (0, 0.01)

0.03 (0, 0.17)

0.406

 Lymphocytes, %, †

1.8 (0.5, 6.6)

5.9 (2.9, 8.9)

0 (0, 0.5)

1.4 (0.3, 13.0)

0.562

 Columnar epithelial cells (10⁶/mL) †

0.04(0, 1.09)

0.1 (0.02, 1.42)

0 (0, 11.79)

0.05 (0.01, 0.24)

0.072

 Columnar epithelial cells, %, †

1.4(0.5, 3.0)^△

3.8 (2.8, 14.7)

0 (0, 2.6) ^△

3. 5 (0.8, 11.4) ^§※

0.017