| Subjects | Select sputum weight (mg) | Ratio select/total sputum weight | Total cells (×106) | Cells/mg | % Viable | % PMN | PMN/mg | % Mac | Mac/mg | % Eos | % Lymph |
| Normal (n = 8) | 2266 (1255 to 3277) | 0.27 (0.14 to 0.39) | 3.96 (1.52 to 6.40) | 2090 (341 to 3838) | 72.2 (64.0 to 80.5) | 43.0 (31.2 to 54.8) | 953 (145 to 1761) | 52.2 (43.9 to 60.4) | 1062 (151 to 1973) | 0.09 (0 to 0.19) | 1.31 (0.61 to 2.00) |
| Asthmatic (n = 9)† | 2021 (1170 to 2737) | 0.32 (0.21 to 0.44) | 2.46 (0.79 to 3.52) | 1599 (333 to 2538) | 71.2 (61.9 to 78.1) | 30.1 (11.8 to 48.3) | 686 (0 to 1467) | 63.8 (44.5 to 82.4) | 783 (284 to 1101) | 1.22* (0.26 to 2.18) | 1.87 (1.08 to 2.41) |
Values are mean (95% confidence interval). A significant difference was found only for the percentage of sputum eosinophils (p<0.001). Cell counts do not sum to 100% because data for bronchial epithelial cells are not shown.
*Significantly different from normal (p<0.001). †One subject with asthma could not produce sufficient sputum cells to obtain cell counts.
Eos, eosinophil; Lymph, lymphocyte; Mac, macrophages (including monocytes and all macrophage populations); PMN, polymorphonuclear leucocyte (neutrophil).