Table 2 A comparison of inflammatory markers in induced and spontaneous sputum sampled from the COPD patients at the time; either during a COPD exacerbation or during the stable state

IL-6(pg/ml) median, IQR

10.0(4.9-26.6)

10.4(2.8-23.3)

0.29

20.5(6.11-43.2)

13.9(2.2-55.2)

0.46

IL-8(pg/ml) median, IQR

339.7(193.6-663.9)

344.9(173.9-812.2)

0.77

514.2(225.6-1257.2)

3709.9(171.7-976.7)

0.18

IP-10(pg/ml)

735.0(205.4-2099.6)

372.1(218.7-1416.2)

0.15

529.0(215.4-2554.8)

362.3(142.0-1393.1)

0.07

TNF-α (pg/ml) median, IQR

3.0(0.2-11.8)

6.3(2.0-34.0)

0.002

0.9(0-2.4)

1.3(0.2-4.3)

0.06

IL-18 (pg/ml) median, IQR

9.2(4.9-12.9)

10.6(3.6-27.3)

0.52

6.5(2.4-25.6)

9.6(0.8-18.2)

0.64

MIG (pg/ml) median, IQR

539.2(100.1-1496.0)

384.6(221.2-1997.0)

0.41

534.4(56.9-1450.1)

567.4(178.0-2031.7)

0.82