Table 2.

Serum concentrations of lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP), soluble CD14, soluble tumour necrosis factor (TNF) receptor 55 kDa and interleukin (IL)-6 in healthy controls and patients with compensated and decompensated cirrhosis

	Healthy controls (n = 20)	Cirrhotic patients without ascites (n = 20)	Differences: healthy controls versus compensated cirrhosis (P)	Cirrhotic patients with ascites (n = 20)	Differences: healthy controls versus decompensated cirrhosis (P)	Differences: compensated versus decompensated cirrhosis (P)
LBP	3·4	7·7	< 0·001	28·2	< 0·001	< 0·001
(µg/ml)	(2·7–4·2)	(5·7–9·1)		(10·7–40·6)
sCD14	2960	8455	< 0·001	10790	< 0·001	n.s.
(ng/ml)	(2354–3715)	(4581–10579)		(7590–12778)
sTNF-RI	144	232	< 0·001	527	< 0·001	0·008
(pg/ml)	(108–177)	(143–259)		(234–1406)
IL-6	0	5	< 0·001	26	< 0·001	< 0·001
(pg/ml)	(0–2)	(2–7)		(14–58)

Variables are expressed as median (interquartile range). n.s., not significant.