Characteristics of the subjects
| Subject | Asthma* (n=5) | Control† (n=14) | COPD stage II‡ (n=6) | COPD stage IV§ (n=6) | Control smoker (n=8) | Control non-smoker (n=7) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 42 (33–50) | 47 (19–73) | 66 (65–69) | 66 (56–71) | 58 (53–70) | 63 (58–73) |
| Gender (M,%) | 3 (60) | 10 (71) | 6 (100) | 0 (0) | 6 (75) | 7 (100) |
| Pack-years | 0.7 (0–4) | 0 (0–0) | 30 (20–49) | 35 (20–50) | 44 (19–60) | 0 (0–0) |
| FEV1 pred (%) | 93 (76–114) | 111 (88–136) | 64 (44–80) | 29 (26–40) | 116 (96–124) | 117 (88–136) |
| FEV1/FVC (%) | 72 (58–78) | 76 (68–86) | 52 (40–60) | 35 (25–39) | 74 (72–84) | 75 (68–82) |
Medians (range) or number (%).
*Asthma patients were included on basis of a doctor's diagnosis of asthma and documented bronchial hyper-responsiveness, that is, PC20 AMP<80 mg/mL, PC20 methacholine <8 mg/mL or PC20 histamine <8 mg/mL, ≤10 pack-years and no smoking in the last year.
†All control subjects had FEV1/FVC>70% and FEV1>90% of predicted.
‡COPD GOLD stage II patients were included based on postbronchodilator FEV1 30–80% of predicted, FEV1/FVC<70% and ≥10 pack-years.
§COPD GOLD stage IV patients were included based on FEV1<30% of predicted, FEV1/FVC<70% and ≥20 pack-years.
FEV1pred, forced expiratory volume during the first second as percentage of predicted; FVC, forced vital capacity.