Functional activity of peripheral blood eosinophils in allergen-induced late-phase airway inflammation in asthma patients

Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of study subjects

Characteristics	Patients with allergic asthma N = 18	Patients with allergic rhinitis N = 14	Healthy subjects N = 10
Age (years), median (range)	31 (21–50)	30 (18–49)	28 (22–45)
Sex (male/female), n	10/8	4/10	3/7
Wheal diameter induced by allergen (mm), median (range)	6.2 (4–11)	7.8 ± 1.8 (4–13)	0
Sensitization to D. pteronyssinus/birch/5 grass mixture allergen, n	13/3/2	9/3/2	0
PD₂₀ (mg), geometric mean (range)	0.38 (0.25–0.54)	0.52*	0/0/0
FEV₁ (% of predicted), mean ± SD	98 ± 15	105 ± 10	102 ± 11

*N = 1 because methacholine challenge provoked bronchoconstriction only to one allergic rhinitis patient.
PD₂₀ - a provocative dose of methacholine causing a 20% decrease in FEV₁;
FEV₁ - forced expiratory volume in one second.

ISSN: 1476-9255