| Eosinophilic asthma | Non-eosinophilic asthma | ||||||||||
| Placebo | Mometasone | p Value (mometasone vs placebo) | Placebo | Mometasone | p Value (mometasone vs placebo) | p Value (eosinophilic vs non- eosinophilic) | |||||
| Week 0 | Week 8 | Week 0 | Week 8 | Week 0 | Week 8 | Week 0 | Week 8 | ||||
| Methacholine PC20 (mg/ml)* | 1.53 (0.17) | 0.16 (0.32) | 0.46 (0.22) | 2.13 (0.27) | 0.01 | 1.42 (0.18) | 1.07 (0.27) | 1.69 (0.22) | 1.74 (0.18) | 0.72 | 0.018 |
| Asthma QOL score | 5.5 (0.3) | 5.5 (0.4) | 5.6 (0.3) | 6.6 (0.2) | 0.004 | 5.0 (0.3) | 5.0 (0.3) | 5.1 (0.3) | 5.2 (0.4) | 0.43 | 0.008 |
| FEV1 (%) | 94 (7.9) | 93 (8.4) | 94 (7.3) | 94 (7.9) | 0.62 | 86 (3.8) | 84 (4.1) | 87 (4.7) | 82 (3.2) | 0.46 | 0.70 |
| Symptom VAS (mm) | 59 (27) | 76 (29) | 28 (7.6) | 12 (7.1) | 0.33 | 141 (41) | 122 (39) | 151 (39) | 115 (50) | 0.79 | 0.82 |
| Exhaled NO (ppb)* | 56 (0.1) | 79 (0.1) | 65 (0.1) | 21 (0.1) | 0.003 | 13 (0.1) | 15 (0.1) | 13 (0.1) | 11 (0.2) | 0.14 | 0.003 |
| Alveolar NO (ppb) | 9.2 (1.2) | 12 (2.3) | 5.7 (1.2) | 4.8 (1.3) | 0.27 | 3.2 (0.5) | 2.4 (0.6) | 3.1 (0.3) | 3.9 (0.9) | 0.64 | 0.12 |
| Sputum eosinophils (%)* | 7.1 (0.1) | 9.9 (0.1) | 11 (0.2) | 2.3 (0.2) | 0.001 | 0.6 (0.2) | 0.4 (0.2) | 0.4 (0.2) | 0.5 (0.1) | 0.50 | 0.022 |
| Sputum neutrophils (%) | 26 (5.6) | 33 (7.2) | 40 (8.9) | 45 (11) | 0.93 | 63 (7.7) | 67 (7.6) | 65 (5.7) | 55 (6.7) | 0.20 | 0.5 |
Data given as mean (SE) except *geometric mean (log SE).
FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 s; PC20, dose of inhaled methacholine causing a 20% fall in FEV1; QOL, quality of life; VAS, visual analogue score; NO, nitric oxide; IL-8, interleukin-8, ECP, eosinophilic cationic protein; Cys-Lt, cysteinyl leucotriene.