Inhibitors of leukocyte chemotaxis in alcoholic liver disease

Twenty-one of 42 patients (50 per cent) with alcoholic liver disease showed serum chemotactic inhibitory activity (CIA). CIA was not related to any single biochemical or histologic feature in the patients studied. The frequency of CIA was greatest in those with active infection. Serial studies demonstrated that CIA may be a transient phenomenon, associated with active alcoholic liver disease or appearance of infection. Nine of 15 patients showed skin test anergy; CIA was present in 8 of these 9 patients. Serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) and G (IgG) concentrations were significantly higher in patients with CIA when compared to those without CIA. Sucrose density gradient centrifugation of serums showing CIA yielded three peaks of inhibitory activity. Two had sedimentation coefficients of 10.7S and 6.8S, and the third was approximately 3S. The two higher molecular weight inhibitors were predominant in the 50 per cent ammonium sulfate precipitate. Immunoabsorption by anti-IgA but not by anti-IgG or IgM columns removed the ammonium sulfate precipitable chemotactic inhibitors. The appearance of chemotactic inhibitors in patients with alcoholic liver disease may have relevance to their apparent susceptibility to serious infections.