Subject characteristics
| Asthma patients (n=49) | Healthy controls (n=18) | |
|---|---|---|
| BDP=beclomethasone dipropionate; PEF=peak expiratory flow (personal best value for 1 month); FEV1=forced expiratory volume in 1 second (baseline values before inhaled β2 stimulant). | ||
| %PEF=PEF/predicted PEF; %FEV1=FEV1/predicted FEV1. | ||
| Values are expressed as mean (SD). | ||
| Pretreatments are 0.5 mg/kg prednisolone per day orally for 2 weeks and inhaled salbutamol sulfate (2 puffs) in patients with asthma. | ||
| Pretreatment is inhaled salbutamol sulfate (2 puffs) in healthy controls. | ||
| Age (years) | 45.3 (15.4) | 44.9 (14.5) |
| Sex (M:F) | 25:24 | 9:9 |
| Duration of asthma (years) | 11.8 (13.8) | 0 |
| Atopy:non-atopy | 29:20 | |
| Dose of BDP (μg/day) | 757 (486) | 0 |
| %PEF (PEF/pred PEF) | 90 (25) | 105 (7) |
| %FEV1 (FEV1/pred FEV1) before pretreatment | 85 (14) | 99 (6) |
| %FEV1 (FEV1/pred FEV1) after pretreatment | 92 (14) | 101 (5) |