Phagocytosis and production of reactive oxygen species by peripheral blood phagocytes in patients with different stages of alcohol-induced liver disease: effect of acute exposure to low ethanol concentrations.

Background: In rodents, the development of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) after chronic alcohol feeding was shown to depend on the activity of enzymes that are necessary for production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in phagocytes. The aim of this study was to determine the formation of ROS by resting and challenged phagocytes of patients with different stages of ALD in the presence of ethanol concentrations commonly found in the blood of alcohol abusers.

Patients And Methods: The release of ROS and the phagocytosis of bacteria by neutrophils and monocytes obtained from 60 patients, who were categorized in three groups due to the severity of ALD, were compared to that of 28 healthy controls.