Alcoholic hepatitis: granulocyte chemotactic factor from Mallory body-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear...

The characteristic histopathological features of acute alcoholic hepatitis include hyaline degeneration of hepatic parenchymal cells (Mallory bodies), hepatocellular necrosis, and granulocyte infiltration of the liver. The chemotactic response of neutrophils to highly purified Mallory bodies was studied. Mallory bodies, per se, were not chemotactic for granulocytes, nor did they generate chemotactic factors when incubated with serum. However, a factor(s) chemotactic for both granulocytes and mononuclear cells was generated when Mallory bodies were incubated with mononuclear cells, both from patients with alcoholic hepatitis or from normal controls. It was concluded that Mallory bodies stimulate peripheral blood mononuclear cells to release a factor chemotactic for granulocytes and mononuclear cells. This factor may be important in the etiology of the cellular infiltration in the livers of patients with alcoholic hepatitis.