Abstract

Background: The influence of the immune system on the development of alcoholicliver disease has recently been the object of attention. However, the connection between alcohol consumption,altered immune response, and development of changes in the liver has not been fully explained. The aimof the present study was to evaluate serum IL-8 concentration in patients with chronic alcoholic liverdisease. Material/Methods: 85 patients with different types of ALD and 35 healthy subjects were enrolledin the study. Serum IL-8 concentration was evaluated with the ELISA immunoenzymatic method. IL-8 in livertissue was measured by the indirect immunofluorescence method. Results: There was a significant correlationbetween IL-8 concentration and AST, ALP, GGT, total bilirubin and albumin levels in blood serum. A significantlyhigher concentration of IL-8 was seen in all the groups of ALD patients. The highest values were foundin patients with chronic alcoholic hepatitis, and the lowest in those with fatty liver. Significantlyhigher values were found in patients with ascites or encephalopathy in comparison to those without anyfeatures of portal hypertension and/or insufficiency of the liver cells. A high concentration of thetested cytokine is a disadvantageous prognostic factor in patients with ALD. Conclusions: IL-8 appearsto be an important factor in liver pathology in patients with ALD, especially in the development of theinflammatory process.

Keywords: Case-Control Studies, Ascites - immunology, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Fatty Liver, Alcoholic - immunology, Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect, Hepatic Encephalopathy - immunology, Hepatitis, Alcoholic - immunology, Interleukin-8 - blood, Liver - immunology, Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic - immunology, Liver Diseases, Alcoholic - immunology, Prognosis