Cytokine Production by Peripheral Blood CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T Cells in Atopic Childhood Asthma

Table 1

Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with asthma and healthy children.

	Asthma	Healthy controls
N	40	18
Age, years, mean ± SE	9.02±0.35	9.28±0.75
Sex, n	M: 27; F: 13	M: 10; F: 8
Duration of asthma, years, mean ± SE	5.46±0.54
Serum total IgE, IU/ml, mean ± SE	312.95±154.00^∗	28.20±2.23
Eosinophils, % (n, cells/μL), mean ± SE	7.2±0.8(260.4±10.4)^∗∗	2.2±0.2 (137.3±6.2)
Positive skin prick test, n (%)	40 (100)	0
Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus	37 (92.5)
Dermatophagoides farinae	38 (95)
Grass pollens	21 (53)
Tree pollens	12 (30)
Weed pollens	15 (38)
Moulds	10 (25)
Feather	4 (10)
Cat	8 (20)
Dog	2 (5)
Total SPT wheal size, mm, mean ± SE	21.9±5.6
Current inhaled steroid use, n (%)	30 (75)
Lung function assessed, n (%)	35 (87.5%)	15 (83.3%)
FEV1% predicted	84.3±2.06^#	96.4±2.047
FVC% predicted	83.3±1.95^#	91.71±1.41
FEV1% FVC	87.47±1.63^#	91.97±1.60
MEF25% predicted	85.85±4.40^#	95.85±4.50

All 𝑃-values from Mann-Whitney U-test
∗ 𝑃<.01
∗∗ 𝑃<.001
^#𝑃<.00001.