Objective    To compare the clinical characteristics of patients with refractory asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and types of inflammatory cells in sputum induced from them.     Methods    Clinical data about 32 refractory asthma patients and 21 COPD patients admitted to our hospital from October 2009 to October 2010 were analyzed. Inflammatory cells in sputum induced from them were detected with Wright-Gimsa staining.     Results    Severe airflow limitation (FEV160% predicted value) was observed in 71.9% (23/32) of the asthma  patients

and the FEV1/predicted value 80% was found in 6.3% (2/32) of these patients. In addition

the bronchial reversibility was over 12% in 60% (9/15) of these patients

which was similar to that in COPD patients. The number of eosinophils (EOS) and neutrophils (NEU) in sputum induced from the patients increased in 68.8%（22/32）of refractory asthma patients (3%) and in 28.1%（9/32） of refractory asthma patients (61%)

respectively. The EOS and NEU were detected only in sputum induced from 1 patient (3.1%)

and were significantly in sputum induced from refractory asthma patients than from COPD patients（P0.05）. However

no significant difference was found in NEU between refractory asthma and COPD patients（P0.05).     Conclusion    Refractory asthma can be divided into EOS and NEU subtypes of asthma according to the types of inflammatory cells in sputum induced from the patients. Inflammatory cells detected in sputum induced from EOS asthma patients are similar to those detected in sputum induced from NEU asthma patients.