Total and differential inflammatory cell counts in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and in subepithelial bronchial tissue obtained from children with cystic fibrosis (CF) (n=46) and controls (n=16)
| CF | Controls | p Value | |
| BAL (cells ×103 per ml) | |||
| Total inflammatory cells | 1382 (753–2951) | 102 (78–190) | <0.0001 |
| Neutrophils | 810 (285–1230), 49% | 1 (0–6), 1% | <0.001 |
| Lymphocytes | 37 (11–126), 2% | 3 (1–5), 2% | <0.001 |
| Macrophages | 641 (329–1042), 48% | 96 (73–168), 97% | <0.0001 |
| Eosinophils | 11 (1–41), 1% | 0 (0–1), 0% | 0.008 |
| Biopsies (cells/mm2) | |||
| Total inflammatory cells | 1773 (1256–2626) | 1045 (760–1317) | 0.008 |
| Neutrophils | 13 (4–26), 1% | 0 (0–31), 0% | 0.100 |
| T lymphocytes | 786 (648–1364), 54% | 624 (439–788), 63% | 0.035 |
| B lymphocytes | 125 (52–259), 9% | 62 (28–179), 6% | 0.100 |
| Macrophages | 487 (235–793), 33% | 255 (102–446), 26% | 0.017 |
| Eosinophils | 0 (0–0), 0% | 5 (0–12), 0% | 0.279 |
| Mast cells | 40 (14–78), 3% | 52 (26–82), 5% | 0.641 |
BAL cell counts and differentials available from 33 children with CF and 10 controls; biopsy cell counts available from 39–42 children with CF and from 13–16 controls, depending on cell type analysed; median (IQR) cell counts and percentage of total inflammatory cells shown.