Effects of asthma exacerbation on perception, lung function, and exhaled NO in 27 subjects and on sputum inflammatory cells in 13 subjects from whom sputum was collected both at the visit before the exacerbation when they were clinically well and during the exacerbation
| Visit before exacerbation | Exacerbation | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Values are means or *geometric means and 95% confidence intervals of the mean. | |||
| ICS = inhaled corticosteroids; FEV1 = forced expiratory volume in 1 second; DRR = dose response ratio; PS20FEV1 = Borg score at 20% fall in FEV1. | |||
| Slope (Borg/FEV1 % fall)* | 0.19 (0.16 to 0.23) | 0.13 (0.10 to 0.18) | 0.021 |
| Intercept (Borg units) | 0.48 (0.02 to 0.94) | 1.43 (0.82 to 2.04) | 0.010 |
| PS20FEV1 (Borg units) | 4.78 (4.0 to 5.6) | 4.84 (4.1 to 5.5) | 0.89 |
| Correlation coefficient | 0.85 (0.80 to 0.90) | 0.79 (0.71 to 0.87) | 0.12 |
| FEV1 (% predicted) | 85.3 (78.3 to 92.4) | 80.9 (73.5 to 88.2) | 0.040 |
| Resting Borg score | 0.49 (0.23 to 0.76) | 1.18 (0.74 to 1.62) | 0.009 |
| Asthma score | 3.54 (2.96 to 4.12) | 6.70 (6.28 to 7.11) | <0.0001 |
| FEV1 max fall (%) | 18.1 (15.9 to 20.3) | 18.1 (15.9 to 20.3) | 0.99 |
| DRR mannitol (% fall FEV1/mg)* | 0.093 (0.065 to 0.134) | 0.130 (0.086 to 0.198) | 0.006 |
| ICS dose (μg/day, BDP equivalent) | 620 (458 to 782) | 352 (253 to 451) | <0.0001 |
| Exhaled NO (ppb)* | 17.1 (11.7 to 24.8) | 23.4 (18.0 to 31.3) | 0.009 |
| Sputum inflammatory cells (% total inflammatory cells) | |||
| N | 13 | 13 | |
| Eosinophils (%)* | 17.7 (9.9 to 31.4) | 18.6 (9.3 to 37.2) | 0.80 |
| Neutrophils (%)* | 9.43 (5.6 to 15.9) | 5.9 (2.3 to 15.2) | 0.92 |
| Macrophages (%) | 61.3 (49.7 to 72.9) | 49.4 (38.6 to 60.1) | 0.66 |
| Lymphocytes (%) | 0.78 (0.22 to 1.35) | 0.39 (0.11 to 0.66) | 0.21 |