Figures
- FIGURE 1
Phylogenetic tree for 11 taxa of Candida (see Methods section for further details).
- FIGURE 2
Prevalence of symptoms among the sawmill workers comparing those with and without fungus-positive sputum samples.
Tables
- TABLE 1
Characteristics of 54 wood mill worker study participants
Parameters Fungus positive Fungus negative p-value Participants n 19 35 Age years 42.5±10.4 36.9±5.2 0.04 Height cm 172.05±4.76 173.20±5.42 0.43 BMI kg·m−2 21.9±3.3 21.2±2.3 0.44 Ever-smokers 8 (42.1) 12 (34.3) 0.79 Employment years 15.8±8.1 13.0±4.2 0.18 Parental asthma 6 (31.6) 7 (20.0) 0.54 Data are presented as mean±sd or n (%), unless otherwise stated. All participants were male. p-values are based on t-test for age and height, Wilcoxon rank sum test for body mass index (BMI) and employment years, and Chi-squared test for smoking status and parental asthma.
- TABLE 2
Comparison of lung function by fungal status among 54 woodworkers
Parameters Fungus positive Fungus negative p-value Participants n 19 35 FVC L 2.83±0.30 2.89±0.24 0.44 FVC % predicted 79.0±8.2 78.0±8.3 0.70 FEV1 L 2.12±0.29 2.20±0.28 0.36 FEV1 % predicted 76.7±10.2 75.2±11.2 0.61 FEV1/FVC 0.75±0.04 0.76±0.06 0.47 FEF25–75% L·s−1 2.59±0.55 2.98±0.47 0.01 FEF25–75% % predicted 69.2±9.95 82.3±4.53 <0.01 Data are presented as mean±sd unless otherwise stated. FVC: forced vital capacity; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FEF25–75%: forced expiratory flow at 25–75% of FVC.
- TABLE 3
Comparison of inflammatory cellular profile in the sputum between the study groups
Sputum
cell typeFungus positive# Fungus negative¶ Median (interquartile range) Range Median (interquartile range) Range Neutrophils % 62.75 (58.0–67.25) 52.25–69.5 63.25 (62.25–66.25) 57.75–72.25 Eosinophils % 9.25 (8.5–10.25) 6.75–11.5 3.25 (2.5–4.25) 1.5–5.25 Macrophages % 22.5 (18.75–28.5) 16.75–33.75 31.25 (29.5–32.625) 24.0–35.5 Lymphocytes % 4.25 (3.75–4.875) 3.5–7.5 1.75 (1.25–2.125) 0.5–4.25 Group-wise comparison (ANOVA), p<0.01. #: n=19; ¶: n=35.
- TABLE 4
Mediation analysis for the association between fungal appearance, lung function and sputum inflammatory cells
Model Predictors FEF25–75% % predicted β (95% CI) p-value R2 Model 1 Fungus positivity −12.7 (−16.9– −8.5) <0.001 0.45 Model 2 Eosinophil % −2.1 (−2.8– −1.5) <0.001 0.49 Model 3 Fungus positivity −3.5 (−13.9–6.9) 0.51 0.48 and eosinophil % −1.6 (−3.3–0.06) 0.06 All models included age, smoking status (current versus former or never) and years of employment. FEF25–75%: forced expiratory flow at 25–75% of forced vital capacity; β: adjusted regression coefficient; R2: determination coefficient.
