Table 2 Comparison between asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) inflammation patterns

	Asthma			COPD
	Mild	Severe	Exacerbation	Mild	Severe	Exacerbation
Neutrophils	0	++	++++	++	+++	++++
Eosinophils	+	++	+++	0	0	+
Mast cells	++	+++	+++?	0	0	?
Macrophages	+	+	?	+++	++++	++++
T-lymphocytes	TH2++, iNKT??	Th1+, Th2+, Tc1+, Tc2, Th17?	?	Tc1+	Tc1+++, Th1+++, Th17?	?
B-lymphocytes	B-ϵ	B-ϵ	?	+	+++	?
Dendritic cells	+	?	?	+?	+?	?
Chemokines	CCL11	CXCL8+	CXCL8++	CXCL8+, CXCL1+, MCP-1	CXCL8++	CXCL8+++
Cytokines	IL-4, IL-5, IL-13	TNF-α	?	TNF-α+	TNF-α++	TNF-α+++
Lipid, mediators	LTD4++, PGD2+	LTB4++ PGD2+	?	LTB4+	LTB4++	LTB4+++
Oxidative stress	0	++	+++	++	+++	++++
Steroid response	++++	++	+	0	0	0

0: no response; + to ++++: degree of magnitude; ?: uncertain. Th: T-helper; NKT: natural killer T-cell; CCL: CC-chemokine ligand; IL: interleukin; Tc: T-cytotoxic cell; CXCL: CXC motif ligand; TNF: tumour hecrosis factor; MCP: monocyte chemotactic protein.