Patients with acute on chronic liver failure display "sepsis-like" immune paralysis.
OBJECTIVE
Cellular immune depression is linked to high mortality in sepsis, but has yet to be systematically analysed in liver cirrhosis. The aim of the present study was to directly compare functional immune parameters in patients with acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF), severe sepsis, and non-decompensated cirrhosis.


METHODS
Patients with ACLF (n=27) were investigated at admission to a medical ICU. Patients with stable liver cirrhosis (n=24) and severe sepsis (n=31) served as control groups. In all subjects, serum levels of IL-6 and IL-10, ex vivo production of TNF-alpha in a whole blood assay, and monocyte surface HLA-DR expression were determined.


RESULTS
In patients with ACLF or sepsis, ex vivo TNF-alpha production and HLA-DR expression were severely decreased compared to subjects with stable cirrhosis (both P<0.001). Contrary, IL-6 levels were highest in septic patients, followed by subjects with ACLF and cirrhotic patients (both P<0.05). Immune dysfunction in ACLF was independent of aetiology of liver cirrhosis and associated with high mortality.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with ACLF and severe sepsis show a similar degree of cellular immune depression. The reduced cellular immune function in subjects with ACLF might contribute to the increased infectious morbidity of these patients and provide a rational basis for prevention strategies.
Wasmuth
Hermann E
HE
Department of Medicine III, University Hospital Aachen (UKA), Aachen University (RWTH), Pauwelsstrasse 30, D-52074 Aachen, Germany.
Kunz
Dagmar
D
Yagmur
Eray
E
Timmer-Stranghöner
Annette
A
Vidacek
Daniel
D
Siewert
Elmar
E
Bach
Jens
J
Geier
Andreas
A
Purucker
Edmund A
EA
Gressner
Axel M
AM
Matern
Siegfried
S
Lammert
Frank
F
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000276:immunology*; D017114:Liver Failure, Acute / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010243:Paralysis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D018805:Sepsis / Q000276:immunology*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha