Cell analysis of sputum samples
| Control (C) | Smoker (S) | COPD | p value† | C v S* | C v COPD* | S v COPD* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results are expressed as median values with 25–75th percentiles in parentheses. | |||||||
| *p value for non-parametric Bonferroni Dunn’s post hoc test. | |||||||
| †p value for non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test comparing the differences between the groups. | |||||||
| Viability (%) | 86.8 (67–89.3) | 75.7 (73.4–83.3) | 80.5 (74.6–87.8) | NS | NS | NS | NS |
| Squamous cells (%) | 4.3 (2.9–8.0) | 2.8 (1.1–4.9) | 4 (1.2–5.4) | NS | NS | NS | NS |
| Total cell counts (106/g sputum) | 2.4 (1.9–3.0) | 5 ( 4.2–6.4) | 9.7 (2.5–17.2) | NS | NS | p=0.0023 | NS |
| Differential cell counts (%) | |||||||
| Macrophages | 83.1 (72.4– 87) | 57.2 (49.4–72.4) | 25.2 (15.1–39.3) | p<0.0001 | NS | p<0.0001 | p=0.0002 |
| Neutrophils | 15.1 (12.7–26.0) | 40.6 (25.8–47.0) | 68.2 (54.4–81.0) | p<0.0001 | NS | p<0.0001 | p=0.0005 |
| Lymhocytes | 0.8 (0–1) | 0.9 (0.3–1.2) | 1 (0–1.7) | NS | NS | NS | NS |
| Eosinophils | 0 (0– 0.3) | 0.9 (0.1–1.7) | 1.9 (0.8–4.8) | p<0.008 | NS | p=0.008 | NS |
| Epithelial cells | 0.4 (0.1– 0.8) | 0 (0–0.2) | 0.2 (0–0.9) | NS | NS | NS | NS |