Table 2

Demographic and desmosine data for group 2 consisting of healthy volunteers and patients with an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Sample typeGroup 2
Urine and sputumBlood
GroupHealthy volunteers (HV2a)Patients with ‘during an exacerbation’ COPDHealthy volunteers (HV2b)Patients with ‘during an exacerbation’ COPD
Number of participants6250*19102*
Gender (M/F)24/3824/2618/143/59
Smoking status (smokers/e-smokers/non-smokers/unknown)13/41/8/031/2/15/210/0/9/055/33/0/14
Age (years)22 (21–45)69 (60–74)68 (65–73)72 (66–79)
Body mass index25±426±7NA26±7
FEV1 (% predicted)103±1339±16NA47±18
uDES (ng/mg creatinine)8 (6–10)16 (14–22)
bDES (ng/ml)0.17 (0.12–0.23)0.30 (0.21–0.37)
  • Data are shown as median (IQR) or mean ± SD.

  • Note that healthy volunteers recruited for urine and sputum analysis (HV2a) were different from those for blood analysis (HV2b).

  • * A total of 47 patients with ‘during an exacerbation’ COPD were the same as those who had urine, sputum and blood collected.

  • p<0.001, versus healthy volunteers, Mann–Whitney test.

  • bDES, blood desmosine; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 s; uDES, urinary desmosine.