Serum and ascitic levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis: relation to biochemical markers of disease activity and alcohol intake.
The overexpression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of various necroinflammatory diseases, including alcoholic hepatitis. Shedding of this molecule from cell surfaces results in a circulating form, soluble ICAM-1 (sICAM-1). In this work, the serum and ascitic concentrations of sICAM-1 were studied in relation to clinical and laboratory data in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis of different disease activities. Elevated circulating concentrations of this adhesion molecule were found in all cirrhotic patients, the highest in those with superimposed severe alcoholic hepatitis, and the levels in regularly drinking cirrhotics without severe alcoholic hepatitis were likewise significantly higher than in those who had stopped drinking. The serum sICAM-1 concentration was best related to the serum AST activity, and also exhibited significant correlations with the prothrombin activity, serum bilirubin, albumin, peripheral leukocyte count. Maddrey's discriminant function value, Child grading, and antecedent alcohol consumption. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the serum AST and prothrombin activities were independent predictors of the circulating sICAM-1 concentration. The concentration of sICAM-1 in the uninfected ascitic fluid of cirrthotics was about seven times lower than that in the serum; the ratio of its ascitic and serum levels was lower than that of the ascitic and serum total protein concentrations. These data contradict a significant intraperitoneal production of the molecule. It is concluded that the serum sICAM-1 level may be useful as a marker for the current disease activity (the severity of underlying acute necroinflammatory reactions) in alcoholic liver cirrhosis.
Nagy
I
I
1st Department of Medicine, A. Szen Györgyi Medical University, Szeged, Hungary.
Mándi
Y
Y
D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood*; D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006519:Hepatitis, Alcoholic / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis
D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1