Figure 3
More TRAP-active macrophages are associated with fatal asthma. (a) Representative pictures of lung tissue sections of a control individual stained for TRAP activity. Cells positive for TRAP activity (purple) are alveolar macrophages as judged by morphology and tissue location (some indicated by arrows). (b) Representative pictures of lung tissue sections of a fatal asthma patient stained for TRAP activity. (c) Quantification of the stainings showed that parenchymal lung tissue of patients with fatal asthma (n = 10) contained more TRAP-active macrophages as compared to controls dying of nonpulmonary causes (n = 8). Differences were tested using a Mann-Whitney U test. A p value smaller than 0.05 was considered significant.
