Opsonic activity of ascitic fluids by a chemiluminescent method

Cirrhotic ascites are highly susceptible to spontaneous bacterial infection, whereas carcinogenic ascites are seldom infected. This difference may be explained by differences in their chemotactic, bactericidal and/or opsomic activities. We measured the chemotactic and opsonic activity of ascitic fluids from 35 alcoholic cirrhotic ascites and of 12 peritoneal carcinogenic ascites. Chemotactic activity was measured by the under-agarose technique and opsonic activity by a luminol-enhanced method. Ascitic fluids from alcoholic cirrhosis had low chemotactic (62 +/- 24.5% that of N-formylated peptide) and opsonic (67 +/- 50% of normal serum) activities on normal human neutrophils. In contrast, ascitic fluids from peritoneal carcinoma were found to possess high opsonic activity (114 +/- 49% of normal serum) and chemotactic activity similar to that of N-formylated peptide. During a 3-month follow-up, 11 spontaneous bacterial infections were observed among the first group against none in the carcinogenic group.