Blood eosinophilia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations: prevalence and clinical characteristics

Abstract

Objective To compare the clinical characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations subjects with eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic exacerbations. Methods COPD patients with acute exacerbations who visited the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from July 2015 to July 2016 were recruited into this study.According to the peripheral blood eosinophil on admission, patients were divided into two groups.Eosinophilic group (a) was peripheral blood eosinophil≥2% of total leukocyte count and the others was in non-eosinophilic group (b). Clinical data was collected at admission.According to the guidelines, every patient was treated.The COPD assessment test (CAT) scores were collected at 1st week, 2nd week and 6th week after treatment.Admission details and CAT scores were compared between two groups. Results ①A total of 122 COPD patients with acute exacerbations were recruited.After about one month′s follow-up, a total of 88 male subjects had completed this study.40.9% of subjects met our criteria for peripheral blood eosinophil ≥2% of total leukocyte count.②There was no significant difference in CAT scores between the two groups after treatment (P>0.05). But time point, the interactions between grouping and time point were significant different (P 0.05). Except for 6th week, the CAT scores of group(b) at the other time points were significantly different comparing with the time point of stable COPD (P<0.05). Conclusions The CAT scores of COPD patients with eosinophilic exacerbation decreased rapidly after treatment.The results suggested that peripheral blood eosinophil count can predict the short-term curative effect of COPD patients with acute exacerbation. Key words: Acute exacerbation; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Blood eosinophil; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test scores