INFLUENCE OF ASCITES ON THE CHEMOTAXIS OF GRANULOCYTES IN PATIENTS WITH CIRRHOSIS

Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis is a specific infectious complicatio n in liver cirrhosis. The reasons for the preferred location of infect ion on the peritoneum are not clear. The aims of the present study wer e to ascertain whether hepatogenic ascites fluid is chemotactically ef fective, what part is played by complement factor C3 and whether there are inhibitors of chemotaxis in ascites. Chemotaxis of granulocytes i n serum and ascites fluid was measured in 18 patients with cirrhosis a nd ascites and in 18 healthy individuals using the Boyden chamber meth od. In the patients, the chemotactic effect of serum was reduced signi ficantly. Ascites fluid had lower chemotactic activity than autologous serum (P < 0.01), directly correlated to C3 levels (P < 0.025). There was a significant correlation between chemotaxis in serum and in asci tes fluid (P < 0.005). Adding ascites fluid to serum led to reduction of chemotactic activity only in the patients (P < 0.025). In conclusio n, the chemotactic effect of ascites fluid is considerably lower than that of serum and is proportional to local concentrations of C3. Chemo taxis-inhibiting factors can also be identified in ascites fluid, thei r pathogenetic relevance being limited.