Fig. 2

Sputum CXCR3 ligands and IL-8 in asthmatic patients classified by the sputum granulocyte ratio. The comparison of sputum CXCR3 ligands and IL-8 among the 3 granulocytic subtypes and healthy subjects is shown in a IP-10, b Mig, c I-TAC and d IL-8. Each closed dot represents a different subject. Boxes represent the 25th and 75th percentiles, the central line represents the median, and solid circles represent outliers. Error bars indicate SDs. The comparison of CXCR3 ligands and IL-8 was analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and the Mann–Whitney U test. Initial analyses with a significant difference were further explored by post hoc pairwise analyses (Bonferroni correction). * v. s. Healthy, p < 0.0001; † v. s. Eos or Neu, p = 0.04; ‡ v. s. Healthy, p = 0.04; § v. s. Pauci, p = 0.008; װ v. s. Healthy, p = 0.05; ¶ v. s. Healthy, p = 0.002; # v. s. Pauci, p = 0.05. Pauci, Paucigranulocytic subtype; Eos or Neu, Eosinophil-dominant or Neutrophil-dominant subtype; Mixed, Mixed subtype