Effects of ultrafine particles on the allergic inflammation in the lung of asthmatics: results of a double-blinded randomized cross-over clinical pilot study

Table 2 Main effect analysis of primary endpoints of the global study design (including all subjects and exposures of sequence A and B)

*Global mixed model main effect analysis of the cross-over design*
BAL cells [10⁶]	UFP_{mean (allergen-saline)}	Filtered air (FA)_{mean (allergen-saline)}	Treatment effect (UFP-FA)	95%-confidence interval	p-value
Total cells	20.1	45.7	−25.6	−64.4; 13.2	0.188
Eosinophils	18.6	38.9	−20.3	−52.9; 12.2	0.212

Main effect analysis analyzing total BAL cells and eosinophils using a mixed model with fixed factors exposure, period, sequence, and subjects within sequence as random factor. Estimated mean differences (between allergen challenge and saline) of total cells and absolute eosinophils in BAL are shown 42 h after ultrafine particle (UFP) and filtered air (FA) exposure. Additionally, absolute treatment differences between UFP and filtered air, with 95% confidence levels and p-values are shown.

ISSN: 1743-8977