Table 2 Clinical samples analysis of study patients (N = 181)

Number

86

46

49

Blood sample, median (IQR)

 Hemoglobin (g/dl)

15.1 (13.6–15.8)

13.5 (12.3–14.2)

13.8 (12.8–14.8)

 < 0.001*

0.142

 Platelet count (K/μl)

214.5 (183.0–250.2)

228 (193–288)

243 (208–285)

0.004*

0.441

 White blood cell counts (K cells/mm³)

6.41 (4.97–7.49)

6.64 (4.91–8.22)

7.51 (5.41–9.25)

0.010*

0.058

 Neutrophil (%)

59.2 (52.9–64.8)

61.4 (53.3–68.5)

64.4 (57.2–70.8)

0.001*

0.120

 Eosinophil (%)

2.8 (1.6–4.3)

2.1 (1.2–3.4)

2.6 (1.4–4.1)

0.263

0.292

 < 2%, n (%)

26 (30.2)

22 (47.8)

19 (38.8)

0.205

0.247

 ≥ 2%, n (%)

60 (69.8)

24 (52.2)

30 (61.2)

 Eosinophil counts (cells/mm³)

173.8 (101.1–287.4)

134.7 (65.4–235.3)

162.1 (126.4–271.0)

0.770

0.092

 C-reactive protein (mg/dl)

0.15 (0.06–0.31)

0.14 (0.04–0.68)

0.42 (0.23–0.88)

0.001*

0.004*

BAL samples, median (IQR)

 Macrophage %

83.5 (76.3–89.3)

87.1 (77.2–89.6)

85.9 (81.0–91.4)

0.056

0.175

 Neutrophils %

1.4 (0.6–2.5)

1.2 (0.7–2.7)

2.1 (0.9–5.2)

0.024*

0.076

 Eosinophils %

2.9 (1.8–5.4)

2.3 (1.1–4.3)

1.8 (1.2–2.9)

0.003*

0.290

 Lymphocyte %

8.8 (6.4–15.1)

7.4 (3.1–16.6)

8.0 (3.9–10.7)

0.013*

0.655

BAL sample, median (IQR)

 Eotaxin (pg/ml)

1.6 (1.0–5.4)

1.3 (0.7–3.5)

1.9 (0.9–3.5)

0.873

0.375

 IL-1β (pg/ml)

4.2 (2.1–9.2)

13.1 (3.7–100.4)

56.0 (4.6–352.6)

 < 0.001*

0.095

 IL-6 (pg/ml)

10.2 (2.5–21.0)

16.6 (5.4–45.9)

31.1 (6.4–69.7)

 < 0.001*

0.175

 IL-18 (pg/ml)

31.1 (20.0–52.5)

36.3 (25.4–52.5)

38.3 (23.8–48.9)

0.385

0.754

 IL-8 (pg/ml)

201.6 (64.4–377.0)

423.6 (131.0–1453.0)

958.5 (224.8–2616.5)

 < 0.001*

0.048*

 TNF-α (pg/ml)

4.8 (2.5–9.5)

7.9 (3.9–27.7)

13.2 (5.6–37.7)

 < 0.001*

0.074

 MCP-1(pg/ml)

171.9 (86.7–311.4)

228.2 (97.7–567.0)

259.5 (165.1–553.4)

0.001*

0.461

 NETs (pg/ml)

0.36 (0.18–0.63)

0.57 (0.21–1.04)

1.01 (0.55–2.75)

 < 0.001*

0.005*

Conventional culture of BAL samples

 Klebsiella pneumoniae, n (%)

14 (30.0)

13 (28.3)

18 (36.7)

0.327

0.255

 Pseudomonas aeroginosa, n (%)

1 (3.2)

12 (26.1)

16 (32.7)

 < 0.001*

0.317

 Staphylococcus aureus, n (%)

12 (26.1)

4 (8.7)

11 (22.4)

0.436

0.059

 Haemophilus influenzae, n (%)

6 (13.0)

7 (15.2)

3 (6.1)

0.577

0.134

 Non-tuberculosis mycobacterium, n (%)

3 (6.5)

7 (15.2)

7 (14.3)

0.091

0.563

 Other bacterial pathogens, n (%)

20 (43.5)

21 (45.7)

20 (40.8)

0.408

0.394

 Potential pathogenic bacteria colonization, n (%)

35 (76.1)

38 (82.6)

44 (89.9)

0.008*

0.263

 Aspergillus species, n (%)

3 (6.5)

3 (6.5)

5 (10.2)

0.543

0.393

 Candida species, n (%)

5 (10.9)

8 (17.4)

12 (24.5)

0.132

0.276