Results
The clinical and baseline parameters of the patients are summarized in Table 2. Interestingly, no gender-based differences were observed in the studied parameters (Table S1-S2).
In figure 3, a correlation matrix of Spearman’s correlation coefficients is shown. As expected, FLC-k and FLC-λ strongly and positively correlated. Consequently, also their linear combinations show positive correlations. Very interestingly, FLC- λ levels, and not FLC-k levels, display a significant and negative correlation with the FEV1 parameter, which provides information on the disease severity. A moderate positive correlation is observed for FLC-k and FLC-k +FLC-λ andStaphylococcus Aureus enterotoxins Ultimately, the FLC-k/FLC- λ ratio negatively correlates with the SNOT-22 score.
A linear regression analysis of FLC-λ (figure 4A) as a function of FEV1 was performed, obtaining a significant slope of 1.42±0.13 (p=0.027) and an intercept of 28.5±4.8 (p=1.35e-6), confirming that FLC-λ levels could provide a quantitative indicator of disease severity. This hypothesis is further strengthened by the results of figure 4B, which show a significant decrease in FLC-λ levels in patients treated with
Figure Legends
Figure 2. FLC-k levels as a function of FLC-λ levels in asthmatic patients (cyan dots) and (red dots).
Figure 4: FLC-λ levels as a function of the FEV1 values (A). FEV1 data are reported as a percentage. FLC-λ levels in patients systemic corticosteroids (B).
Table 1: Age, free light chain (FLCs) and FeNO levels in patients and healthy controls.