title: Plasma interleukin-8 levels in patients with post-hepatitic cirrhosis: relationship to severity of liver disease, portal hypertension and hyperdynamic circulation.
abstract: The present study investigated plasma levels of interleukin-8 (IL-8) in patients with post-hepatitic cirrhosis and correlated it with the severity of liver diseases and haemodynamic parameters. Plasma IL-8 levels were significantly higher in 57 post-hepatitic cirrhotic patients (7.5 +/- 1.8 pg/mL; P < 0.005) than those in 41 healthy subjects (2.0 +/- 0.2 pg/mL). Elevated (> 5 pg/mL) plasma IL-8 levels were found in up to 30% of cirrhotic patients. In cirrhotic patients, plasma IL-8 levels progressively increased in relation to the severity of liver dysfunction (4.5 +/- 1.0, 4.9 +/- 1.4 and 20.5 +/- 8.3 pg/mL for Pugh's class A, B and C, respectively; P < 0.005). A significant correlation was observed between plasma IL-8 levels and serum bilirubin levels (r = 0.72; P < 0.001). There were no differences in the hepatic venous pressure gradient (15.4 +/- 1.1 vs 15.1 +/- 0.9 mmHg; P > 0.05) and systemic vascular resistance (1119 +/- 118 vs 1199 +/- 54 dyn.s/cm5; P > 0.05) between cirrhotic patients with and without elevated plasma IL-8 levels. In addition, plasma IL-8 levels did not correlate with hepatic venous pressure gradient (r = 0.26; P > 0.05) and systemic vascular resistance (r = -0.24; P > 0.05). These results demonstrate that plasma IL-8 levels are increased in patients with post-hepatitic cirrhosis. The severity of liver cirrhosis is an important factor for the occurrence of enhanced IL-8 levels. IL-8 does not play a role in the hyperdynamic circulation observed in patients with post-hepatitic cirrhosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: F Y
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Y T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D001663:Bilirubin / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000150:complications*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D006975:Hypertension, Portal / Q000150:complications*; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood*; D008099:Liver / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008102:Liver Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014655:Vascular Resistance; D014690:Venous Pressure
chemical_list: D016209:Interleukin-8; D001663:Bilirubin