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. 1987 Mar;67(3):655–661.

Neutrophil phagocytic and bactericidal function in primary biliary cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases.

M A De Fernandez, A Clark, D R Triger
PMCID: PMC1542618  PMID: 3608234

Abstract

We have examined neutrophil phagocytosis and intracellular killing of Staphylococcus aureus in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis, alcoholic liver disease and chronic active hepatitis in comparison with age and sex matched controls. Significant decrease in neutrophil phagocytosis was found in both early and advanced primary biliary cirrhosis while impaired phagocytosis was seen in alcoholic cirrhosis but not in alcoholic fatty liver. In both disorders the effect appeared to be mediated by the patient's serum as there was no difference between patient and control neutrophil function when the test was performed in AB serum. Although total bacterial killing was reduced in chronic active hepatitis, phagocytosis was not impaired. Intracellular killing was not affected in any of the liver disease groups. These results support the view that serum factors exist in patients with liver disease which inhibit neutrophil phagocytosis. While these studies confirm earlier finding in alcoholic liver disease, this is the first demonstration of such a defect in primary biliary cirrhosis.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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