Differential and total cell counts in BAL fluid from non-smokers, healthy smokers, and patients with COPD
| Non-smokers | Healthy smokers | COPD patients | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total inflammatory cells is the total number of cells (106/ml) recovered from BAL fluid after a standard 240 ml lavage. | |||
| Data are expressed as median (25–75% percentiles). *p<0.01 v COPD patients, †p<0.01 v non-smokers, ‡p<0.01 v healthy smokers, §p<0.05 v non-smokers, ¶p<0.05 v COPD patients, **p<0.05 v healthy smokers. | |||
| n | 14 (8M) | 24 (14M) | 23 (15M) |
| Amount of BAL fluid recovered (ml) | 106 (93–144) | 118 (95–144)* | 92.5 (66–111) |
| Total inflammatory cells (×103/ml BAL fluid recovered) | 36.0 (30–46) | 49.7 (32–71) | 98.0 (72–149)†‡ |
| Macrophages (%) | 90 (89–93) | 95.7 (93–97)§¶ | 90.3 (89–93) |
| Macrophages (×103/ml BAL fluid recovered) | 34.6 (25–42) | 44.3 (28–67) | 94.8 (63–210)†** |
| Neutrophils (%) | 5.0 (4–9)** | 1.9 (1–4) | 5.7 (5–18)** |
| Neutrophils (×103/ml BAL fluid recovered) | 2.2 (1–5) | 0.8 (0.3–2) | 5.9 (4–23)§‡ |