Published online Apr 7, 2006. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v12.i13.2089
Revised: October 15, 2005
Accepted: October 26, 2005
Published online: April 7, 2006
AIM: To examine the hepatitis C virus (HCV) levels and immunological markers in cirrhotic patients after splenectomy.
METHODS: HCV RNA titers as well as cellular and humoral immune markers were determined in 20 cirrhotic patients after splenectomy and in 32 cirrhotic controls with an intact spleen.
RESULTS: Serum HCV RNA titers were lower in the splenectomized patients than in the controls (186 ± 225 × 103 copies/mL vs 541 ± 417 × 103 copies/mL, P < 0.01). HCV RNA was judged to have been spontaneously eradicated in 4 splenectomized patients, but in none of the controls. Natural killer cell activity was higher in the splenectomized patients than in the controls (41.2 ± 19.3% vs 24.7 ± 15.3%, P < 0.01), and natural killer cell activity was negatively correlated to HCV RNA titers in the splenectomized patients except in those with serotype 2-related infection. The CD4/CD8 ratio was significantly lower in the splenectomized patients than in the controls.
CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that splenectomy may diminish virus burden in cirrhotic patients with HCV infection at least in part, through augmentation of natural killer cell activity.