Selective accumulation of langerhans-type dendritic cells in small airways of patients with COPD

Respiratory Research

Table 3 Characteristics of the Study Population (immunohistochemical study) (n = 85)

	Never Smokers	Current Smokers without COPD	Ex-Smokers without COPD	COPD I-II Current Smokers	COPD I-II Ex-Smokers	COPD III-IV Ex-Smokers
n	11	14	14	23	13	10
Sex ratio (M/F)	3/8	9/5	12/2	22/1	13/0	4/6
Age (years)	57.6 (11.5)	55.6 (11.0)	63.7 (7.4)^†	63.0 (9.0)^†	69.5 (6.9)*^†‡Δ	57.3 (5.0)^‡Δ∞
Smoking history (packyear)	N.A.	31.4 (12.0)	39.1 (35.6)	46.5 (21.1)^†	42.5 (23.2)	44.5 (41.8)
Years quit smoking	N.A.	0.2 (0.2)	18.0 (10.3)^†	0.1 (0.2)^†‡	9.9 (7.3)^†‡Δ	5.1 (2.5)^†‡Δ
FEV ₁ (%pred)	102.4 (13.0)	102.3 (13.7)	102.6 (19.1)	74.2 (13.2)*^†‡	83.6 (11.0)*^†‡	27.0 (9.9)*^†‡Δ∞
FEV ₁ (L)	2.8 (0.9)	3.1 (0.4)	3.2 (1.0)	2.4 (0.5)^†‡	2.5 (0.4)^†	0.7 (0.3)*^†‡Δ∞
FEV ₁ /FVC (%)	77.0 (7.1)	77.9 (4.7)	76.2 (5.8)	57.3 (8.0)*^†‡	60.3 (5.3)*^†‡	37.7 (10.9)*^†‡Δ∞
LABA (Y/N)	0/11	0/14	0/14	6/17	3/10	10/0
Inhaled corticosteroids (Y/N)	0/11	0/14	0/14	5/18	2/11	10/0
Inhaled corticosteroid dose (μg BDP/24 h)	0	0	0	369.6 (771.9)	307.7 (751.1)	1660 (550.2)*^†‡Δ∞
Systemic corticosteroids (Y/N)	0/11	0/14	1/13	1/22	0/13	7/3
Systemic corticosteroid dose (mg prednisolon/24 h)	0	0	0.4 (1.6)	0.4 (2.1)	0	5.5 (4.4)*^†‡Δ∞

Data are expressed as mean (standard deviation);
* p < 0.05 vs never smoker; † p < 0.05 versus current smoker without COPD; ‡ p < 0.05 versus ex-smoker without COPD; Δ p < 0.05 versus COPDI-II current smoker; ∞ p < 0.05 versus COPD I-II ex-smoker.
FEV1: forced expiratory volume in one second;
FVC: forced vital capacity;
LABA : long acting β 2 agonist; BDP: beclomethasone diproprionate.

ISSN: 1465-993X