Baseline characteristics of healthy controls and asthma subgroups.
| Variable | Healthy controls (n = 131) | Non-eosinophilic asthma (n = 65) | Eosinophilic asthma (n = 25) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 49.63 ± 14.10 | 54.49 ± 15.81 | 53.68 ± 16.54 | 0.039 |
| Female, n (%) | 95 (72.5) | 47 (72.3) | 17 (68.0) | 0.923 |
| Male, n (%) | 36 (27.5) | 18 (27.7) | 8 (32.0) | - |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 26.78 ± 5.07 | 28.73 ± 4.73 | 27.60 ± 5.07 | 0.028 |
| BMI category, n (%) | 0.046 | |||
| Normal | 49 (37.4) | 14 (21.5) | 11 (44.0) | |
| Overweight | 51 (38.9) | 29 (44.6) | 7 (28.0) | |
| Obese | 31 (23.7) | 22 (33.8) | 7 (28.0) | |
| Glucose (mg/dL) | 92.6 ± 19.2 | 96.8 ± 20.9 | 95.4 ± 18.5 | 0.312 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | 199.8 ± 37.9 | 196.7 ± 35.8 | 201.6 ± 39.2 | 0.761 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 123.4 (82.0–176.0) | 128.0 (86.0–177.0) | 131.0 (93.0–189.0) | 0.418 |
| LDL-C (mg/dL) | 129.8 ± 35.2 | 127.6 ± 34.7 | 132.5 ± 37.1 | 0.684 |
| HDL-C (mg/dL) | 56.3 ± 14.7 | 53.9 ± 13.6 | 52.8 ± 12.8 | 0.271 |
| Insulin (µIU/mL) | 10.4 (6.7–15.9) | 11.8 (7.9–17.6) | 13.4 (8.8–18.3) | 0.084 |
| HOMA-IR | 2.1 (1.3–3.2) | 2.5 (1.6–3.8) | 2.8 (1.8–4.2) | 0.071 |
| HbA1c (%) | 5.47 ± 0.63 | 5.53 ± 0.59 | 5.56 ± 0.62 | 0.612 |
| Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 13.4 ± 1.5 | 13.5 ± 1.6 | 13.7 ± 1.7 | 0.593 |
| Hematocrit (%) | 40.0 ± 4.2 | 40.4 ± 4.4 | 40.8 ± 4.7 | 0.547 |
| Erythrocyte (× 106/µL) | 4.63 ± 0.46 | 4.71 ± 0.52 | 4.78 ± 0.55 | 0.421 |
| MCV (fL) | 85.8 ± 6.3 | 84.7 ± 7.2 | 85.2 ± 6.9 | 0.638 |
| MCHC (g/dL) | 33.3 ± 1.4 | 33.4 ± 1.5 | 33.2 ± 1.7 | 0.812 |
| RDW (%) | 14.1 ± 2.0 | 13.9 ± 1.8 | 14.2 ± 2.1 | 0.697 |
| Leukocyte (× 103/µL) | 6.9 ± 1.9 | 7.3 ± 2.1 | 7.6 ± 2.4 | 0.214 |
| Neutrophil (× 103/µL) | 4.0 ± 1.6 | 4.3 ± 1.8 | 4.5 ± 1.9 | 0.286 |
| Lymphocyte (× 103/µL) | 2.2 ± 0.7 | 2.3 ± 0.8 | 2.2 ± 0.7 | 0.731 |
| Monocyte (× 103/µL) | 0.47 ± 0.16 | 0.50 ± 0.18 | 0.54 ± 0.19 | 0.188 |
| Eosinophil (× 103/µL) | 0.15 (0.08–0.22) | 0.11 (0.05–0.18) | 0.55 (0.37–1.00) | < 0.001 |
| Basophil (× 103/µL) | 0.04 (0.02–0.07) | 0.04 (0.02–0.07) | 0.05 (0.03–0.08) | 0.458 |
| Platelet (× 103/µL) | 257 ± 63 | 268 ± 71 | 281 ± 76 | 0.192 |
Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation, median (interquartile range), or n (%), as appropriate. Continuous variables were compared using one-way ANOVA or the Kruskal-Wallis test according to data distribution, and categorical variables were compared using the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. BMI: body mass index; HbA1c: glycated hemoglobin; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HOMA-IR: homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; MCHC: mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration; MCV: mean corpuscular volume; RDW: red cell distribution width.