In vitro measures of human nasal epithelial (HNE) cell physiology across the groups
| CF (n=26) | CR (n=16) | HC (n=14) | p-value | p-value (CF vs HC) | p-value (CF vs CR) | p-value (CR vs HC) | |
| Culture success/failed (n) | 23/3 | 9/7 | 14/0 | 0.004 | 0.18 | 0.004 | 0.001 |
| Cl− current (µA·cm−2) | 0.21 (−0.2–0.5) (n=16) | 4.0 (1.5–5.2) (n=7) | 5.4 (4.9–10.2) (n=13) | 0.0001 | <0.0001 | 0.003 | 0.13 |
| Na+ current (µA·cm−2) | 22.1 (7.8–41.3) (n=16) | 9.3 (2.5–18.4) (n=7) | 37.2 (26.0–46.9) (n=13) | 0.012 | 0.10 | 0.04 | 0.004 |
| i-ratio (Na+ current/ Cl− current) | 29.4 (−3.9–112.3) (n=16) | 1.2 (0.7–3.9) (n=7) | 6.0 (4.2–8.0) (n=13) | 0.03 | 0.06 | 0.02 | 0.18 |
| TER (ohm·cm2) | 651 (453–807) (n=16) | 717 (205–1066) (n=7) | 556 (499–673) (n=13) | 0.63 | 0.50 | 0.37 | 0.66 |
| Cell ABS (% cleared per 24 h) | 49.7 (38.2–54.1) (n=23) | 42.4 (35.6–54.3) (n=9) | 36.8 (27.1–45.2) (n=14) | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.19 | 0.22 |
| Normalised liquid absorption rate (% per 24 h) | 68.4 (61.2–80.2) (n=17) | 53.7 (39.5–72.5) (n=7) | 59.4 (37.2–66.5) (n=13) | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.11 | 0.31 |
| HNE ASL FRAP diffusion time (τ/τsaline) | 3.5 (2.8–4.0) (n=10) | 2.7 (1.2–3.0) (n=5) | 2.1 (1.3–3.1) (n=13) | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.08 | 0.40 |
Data are presented as median (interquartile range), unless otherwise stated. CF: cystic fibrosis; CR: single CF transmembrane conductance regulator mutation carrier; HC: healthy control; TER: transepithelial resistance; ABS: technetium-99m-DTPA absorption rate; ASL: airway surface liquid; FRAP: fluorescence recovery after photobleaching. Cl− and Na+ currents and TER were measured using Ussing chamber assessments. Cell ABS is the absorption rate of technetium-99m-DTPA from the apical surface of the cultures after addition in a 10 µL volume. Liquid absorption is measured via an optical technique [6] based on changes in ASL volume after 10 µL volume addition. Not all sampled cultures were viable and available for all measurements. Data presented graphically in supplementary figure S3. p-values comparing all groups by Kruskal–Wallis (nonparametric) except for culture success/failure which is Chi-squared. Group comparisons by Dunn's test with Holm adjustment (nonparametric, multiple comparisons). The number of individual cell donors is indicated. A minimum of three cultures is included in each measurement.