Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of the subjects

Age (years)

10.40 ± 2.42

9.08 ± 1.74

9.54 ± 2.01

9.70 ± 2.50

Gender (male: female)

6:4

3:3

7:5

6:4

FEV₁ (% of predicted)

87.72 ± 5.32

84.90 ± 13.23

85.70 ± 12.74

68.81 ± 9.99**

PEF(% of predicted)

92.56 ± 6.28

86.73 ± 14.22

88.37 ± 11.51

70.56 ± 9.48**

Sputum neutrophils (% of total inflammatory cells)

32.57 ± 6.74

38.45 ± 9.35

40.28 ± 6.97

69.57 ± 6.80**

Sputum eosinophils (% of total inflammatory cells)

1.31 ± 0.59

1.66 ± 0.32

3.06 ± 0.40^#

1.76 ± 0.19