Neutrophil dysfunction in alcoholic hepatitis superimposed on cirrhosis is reversible and predicts the outcome
Rajeshwar P. Mookerjee, Vanessa Stadlbauer, Sukhwinderjit Lidder, Gavin A.K. Wright, Stephen J. Hodges, Nathan A. Davies, Rajiv Jalan – 24 August 2007 – Mortality in patients with alcoholic hepatitis (AH) remains high, and although corticosteroids are widely used for treatment, the results vary considerably. In AH, neutrophils are primed and infiltrate the liver to produce injury, but paradoxically, the main cause of death in such patients is infection. Our prospective study addressed this paradox of primed neutrophils on the one hand and increased risk of infection on the other.