Sensitisation to Mallory bodies (alcoholic hyalin) in alcoholic hepatitis.

Using a leucocyte migration inhibition test sensitisation to Mallory bodies (alcoholic hyalin) was found in a statistically significant 41% of 17 patients with alcoholic hepatitis. Patients with alcohol-induced fatty liver and cirrhosis did not demonstrate sensitisation. Mallory bodies are a characteristic feature of alcohol-induced liver damage, and immunological sensitisation to them might lead to liver cell death and cell progression of the hepatitis process.