Serum antibodies against alcohol-treated rabbit hepatocytes in patients with alcoholic liver disease

The existence of antibodies against alcohol-treated rabbit hepatocytes in sera of patients with alcoholic liver disease was investigated utilizing a 125I-labelled protein A assay. The sera, after two absorptions with normal rabbit hepatocytes, were incubated with hepatocytes isolated from rabbits which had been treated for 4 days with a daily dose of ethanol (1 g/kg body weight) intravenously. Serum antibodies against alcohol-treated hepatocytes were detected in 21 of 55 patients with alcoholic liver disease; this was associated with a distinct, mixed granular and linear fluorescence staining the surface of alcohol-treated hepatocytes. By contrast, none of 23 patients with other liver diseases who had no history of excessive alcohol intake showed the antibodies in their sera. The values of the antibodies of patients with alcoholic active cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis were significantly higher than those of other types of alcoholic liver disease. These results showed that antibodies against alcohol-treated hepatocytes are present in alcoholic liver disease with inflammation. The role of these antibodies on liver cell damage in alcoholic liver disease remains to be clarified.