MPO (units/ml) | Elastase (nM) | LTB4 (nM) | IL-8 (nM) | SLPI (μM) | Sol:serum albumin ratio (%) | |
Frequent (n=12) | 0.41 (0.31–0.59) | 0.00 (0.00–9.05) | 3.48 (1.6–5.7) | 3.1 (0.9–6.8) | 2.9 (1.9–6.0) | 0.35 (0.30–0.93) |
Infrequent (n=28) | 0.37 (0.14–0.66) | 0.00 (0.00–7.33) | 4.5 (1.9–7.1) | 3.8 (1.0–6.9) | 4.4 (3.2–5.5) | 0.59 (0.28–1.19) |
MPO = myeloperoxidase; LTB4 = leukotriene B4; IL-8 = interleukin 8; SLPI = secretory leukoprotease inhibitor.
Frequent exacerbators had suffered from ⩾3 exacerbations in the previous 12 months; infrequent exacerbators from ⩽2 exacerbations.
The concentrations of the inflammatory mediators are recorded as median (IQR). There were no significant differences between the frequent and infrequent exacerbators (p>0.05).