Changes of immune function after splenectomy in patients with liver cirrhosis and hypersplenism

Objective To investigate influence of splenectomy on immune function of patients with liver cirrhosis and hypersplenism. Methods Blood was tested before and 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks after the splenectomy. Levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin M (IgM), immunoglobulin A (IgA),complement C3 and T cells subsets in peripheral venous blood were determined in 84 patients with liver cirrhosis and hypersplenism before and 1 weeks, 2 months after the splenectomy. Results The postoperative levels(at 3 days, 1 week and 2 weeks)of RBC, WBC and PLT of the patients increased significantly compared to those before the surgery(t = 5.79,11.67,5.85,5.21,9.92,8.37,8.58,7.49, 11.44, P0.05) .The levels of CD64+, NK cells, IgG and complement C3 of the patients considerably increased 1 week after the surgery, and the differences compared to those before surgery were significant(t=3.61,3.91,2.97,3.16, P0.05),which were much more apparent after 1～2 months (t= 4.93,6.11,3.89,3.27, P0.05). Conclusions In patients with liver cirrhosis and hypersplenism, splenectomy has obvious improvement on humoral and cellular immunity.