title: [Preliminary establishment of cytological examination and the normal reference values for hypertonic saline solution-induced sputum of healthy children in Guangzhou].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To establish the method of cytological examination and the normal reference values for hypertonic saline solution-induced sputum of healthy children (age range from 5 to 15 years) with physical examination in Guangzhou.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 352 children, 5 to 15 years old, were enrolled from primary school and middle school in Guangzhou from January to December, 2010. All subjects completed a standardized questionnaire on the presence of respiratory, allergic symptoms and family history, the medical history and the physical examination was performed by doctors, lung function (forced expiratory volume at 1 s in predicted normal, FEV(1)%) was determined. There were 266 healthy children (137 males, 129 females) who were selected and undergone hypertonic saline solution induction of sputum, and cytological examination was performed. Hypertonic saline (5%) was nebulized and inhaled for 15 - 30 min. No expectoration within 30 min was defined as failure, and the procedure was terminated. The part of opaque and higher density sputum samples was detected by cytology. The proportion of neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, macrophages and monocytes was calculated. This study was approved by the institutional Ethics Review Committee of First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College. Informed consent was obtained from the legal guardians of all participants following a detailed description of the purpose and potential benefits of the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 175 subjects' induced sputum specimens (175/266, 65.8%), non-qualified sputum samples were obtained from 16 of the subjects. The proportions of median (IQR) of lymphocytes were 0.012 (0.020), 95%CI were ranged from 0.015 to 0.022; neutrophils 0.207 (0.330), 95%CI 0.266 - 0.356 macrophages 0.761 (0.327), 95%CI 0.607 - 0.699; eosinophils 0.004 (0.019), 95%CI 0.013 - 0.022. There were no significant differences in proportions of cytological findings of female or male, different age groups and second-hand smoking or not (all P > 0.05). The incidence of adverse event was 4.40% (7/159).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The method and the preliminary data may be used for research, diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic cough and airway inflammation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: De-hui
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Guo-yu
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Qiao-li
authors.initials: QL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ru-chong
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu-neng
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Xiao-an
authors.initials: XA
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Jin-ying
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shang-zhi
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ke-fang
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Nan-shan
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Zhong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D003371:Cough / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology; D008297:Male; D009000:Monocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000166:cytology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012462:Saline Solution, Hypertonic / Q000737:chemistry; D013183:Sputum / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012462:Saline Solution, Hypertonic