Leucocyte density in lamina propria, reticular basement membrane thickness, epithelial integrity, and exhaled nitric oxide*
| Asthmatic workers (n = 20) | Healthy workers (n = 15) | Non-exposed controls (n = 10) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-smokers (n = 8) | Smokers (n = 12) | Non-smokers (n = 8) | Smokers (n = 7) | Non-smokers (n = 10) | |
| RBM, reticular basement membrane; ppb, parts per billion. | |||||
| Cell counts are expressed as cells/mm2. | |||||
| *Data are expressed as median (range). | |||||
| †p⩽0.05 v non-smoking healthy workers and non-exposed controls. | |||||
| ‡p<0.05 v non-exposed controls. | |||||
| §p<0.05 v smoking asthmatic workers. | |||||
| CD45+ leucocytes | 1519 (720–1917)†§ | 675 (452–914) | 660 (415–1289) | 897 (503–1871) | 887 (566–1595) |
| Eosinophils | 27 (6–164)†§ | 10 (0–41) | 10 (3–24)‡ | 33 (2–193) | 3 (0–15) |
| Mast cells | 116 (66–161) | 78 (29–141) | 93 (43–169) | 105 (34–199) | 89 (30–118) |
| Neutrophils | 83 (46–162)§ | 42 (13–93) | 45 (18–110) | 56 (23–98) | 84 (29–175) |
| RBM (μm) | 8.2 (7.5–10.2)† | 8.0 (5.9–12.5) | 7.2 (5.6–8.7) | 7.6 (6.8–9.0)‡ | 6.7 (6.0–7.6) |
| Epithelial integrity (%) | 52 (0–90)§ | 70 (51–96) | 41 (18–93) | 67 (38–97) | 42 (13–70) |
| Exhaled NO (ppb) | 18.1 (6.3–91.1)†§ | 4.4 (1.2–80.0) | 6.5 (3.1–22.8) | 4.1 (1.6–20.3) | 5.1 (3.5–8.4) |