Figures
- FIGURE 1
Association between a) sputum neutrophil % and age, and b) sputum neutrophil % for different age groups in healthy non-smoking subjects. a) n=121 and b) n=26, 17, 30, 21, 17 and 10 for age groups 18–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, 60–69 and 70+ respectively. *: p<0.05.
- FIGURE 2
a) Sputum neutrophil % at baseline and long-term follow-up visits, and b) Bland–Altman plot of the difference versus the mean of two repeat measurements of sputum neutrophil % over time for healthy non-smoking subjects. n=29. Long-term defined as >6 months from baseline.
Tables
- TABLE 1
Baseline demographics for the entire cohort (n=121) #
Characteristic % or mean±sd Sex, % male 70.3 Age years 46.0±15.7 Smoking status, current % 0.0 BMI kg·m−2 26.7±3.7 FEV1 L 3.5±1.0 FEV1 % predicted 104.8±15.7 FEV1/FVC % 78.0±6.4 Sputum characteristics Median (range) Mean±sd Percentile 95% CI 10th 90th Sputum total cell count ×106·g−1 5.64 (0.99–37.00) 8.68±7.99 2.07 21.96 6.66–10.69 Sputum neutrophil % 62.00 (4.00–97.25) 55.20±24.47 16.30 82.50 50.79–59.60 Sputum eosinophil % 0.00 (0.00–3.50) 0.43±0.79 0.00 1.45 0.27–0.60 Sputum lymphocyte % 0.50 (0.00–3.75) 0.85±0.88 0.00 2.00 0.67–1.03 Sputum macrophage % 35.00 (0.25–91.50) 39.37±22.67 12.85 73.40 34.65–44.10 Sputum epithelial cells % 3.25 (0.00–3.75) 6.21±8.46 0.50 15.25 4.45–7.97 Sputum neutrophil cell count ×106·g−1 3.11 (0.14–30.53) 5.79±15.40 0.72 15.40 4.16–7.43 Sputum eosinophil cell count ×106·g−1 0.00 (0.00–0.75) 0.05±0.13 0.00 0.09 0.02–0.08 Sputum lymphocyte cell count ×106·g−1 0.04 (0.00–0.75) 0.07±0.12 0.00 0.17 0.04–0.10 Sputum macrophage cell count ×106·g−1 1.72 (0.19–8.25) 2.43±1.87 0.59 5.42 1.95–2.90 Sputum epithelial cell count ×106·g−1 0.24 (0.00–1.40) 0.34±0.31 0.04 0.77 0.26–0.42 Data presented as mean±sd or median (range) unless specified otherwise. BMI: body mass index; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; FVC: forced vital capacity. #: 30 subjects did not have full differential cell counts data available aside from neutrophil %; 58 subjects did not have absolute sputum counts available.
