Comparison of airway eosinophil count and cytokine pattern between allergic and non-allergic asthmatics†
| Allergic asthma P25%–median–P75% | Non-allergic asthma P25%–median–P75% | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| P = percentile, NS = non-significant. | |||
| *p<0.05, ***p<0.001. | |||
| †Cells were isolated from induced sputum of allergic asthmatic (n = 17) and non-allergic asthmatic patients (n = 14). Eosinophil count and cytokine mRNA levels were determined as explained in fig 1. Comparisons were performed using the one tailed Mann-Whitney U test. | |||
| Eosinophils/leucocytes (%) | 1.4–4.4–10.3 | 0–0.4–2.1 | 0.02* |
| Copies IL-4/β-actin (×104) | 0.0–0.7–4.4 | 0–0–0.2 | 0.03* |
| Copies IFN-γ/β−actin (×104) | 0–1.1–16.2 | 1.9–2.4–9.9 | 0.04* |
| Copies IL-5/β-actin (×104) | 29.8–80.4–260.7 | 2.8–26.7–86.5 | 0.02* |
| Copies IL-13/β-actin (×104) | 4.4–7.1–17.3 | 0.1–0.5–3.1 | 0.0002*** |
| Copies IL-10/β-actin (×104) | 15.8–91.3–244.0 | 20.5–86.7–225.1 | 0.89 NS |