Ascites neutrophil function is significantly impaired in patients with decompensated cirrhosis but can be restored by autologous plasma incubation

Background: Systemic immune cell dysfunction represents a typical feature of end-stage liver disease and increases the risk of bacterial infection, especially spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. To determine whether site-specific differences in host defense mechanisms exist and whether they contribute to sites of infection predilection we evaluated functional properties of neutrophil granulocytes in blood and ascites of patients with and without decompensated cirrhosis. Material and methods: Between August 2014 and May 2015 blood and ascites samples were collected from 63 patients with cirrhosis and eight patient…