Fig. 3

Absolute cell numbers and cell viability in sputum samples liquefied by the enzymatic and the reducing procedure. Cell counts (A) and treatment-to-PBS ratios of viable cell counts (B) in sputum samples (n = 21) processed with PBS (black), the traditional DTT procedure (blue) and the proposed enzymatic method (red). Boxes represent medians (horizontal bars) and means (crosses) with 25th-75th percentiles, and wishkers represent 10th-90th percentiles. p-values were yielded by a Kruskall-Wallis test in (A) and a Mann–Whitney test in (B). n.s.; non-significant