Effect of ulinastatin on cellular immunity following high intensity focused ultrasound treatment in patients with liver cancer

Objective To investigate the effect of ulinastatin on the changes of cellular immunity following high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment in patients with liver cancer.Methods Twenty ASAⅡorⅢpatients of both sexes aged 40-65 yrs undergoing HIFU treatment for liver cancer under general anesthesia were randomly divided into 2 groups (n - 10 each) , group U received intravenous infusion of ulinastatin 200 000 U in normal saline (NS) 100 ml after induction of anesthesia and group C received NS 100 ml. Blood samples were taken before (T1, baseline), at the end of (T2) and 24 h after HIFU treatment (T3) for determination of the percentage of natural killer (NK) cells and T-lymphocyte subgroups CD3+,CD4+ and CD8+ by flow cytometry. Results The two groups were comparable with respect to sex ratio, age, body weight, duration of operation and amount of fluid infused. There was no significant change in percentage of CD3+ after HIFU treatment in both groups. The percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ were significantly increased at T2 and T3 as compared with the baseline at T1 in group U while there was no significant change in the percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ after treatment in group C. The CD4+/CD8+ ratio was significantly increased at T2 in group C and at T2 and T3 in group U as compared with the baseline at T1 . The percentage of NK cells was significantly increased at T2 and T3 as compared with that at T1 in both groups and was significantly higher in group U than in group C. Conclusion Ulinastatin can effectively enhance the immunity function of the patients undergoing HIFU treatment for liver cancer.