title: Protective effect of implanted autologous splenic tissue in splenectomized rats exposed to i.v. Streptococcus pneumoniae.
abstract: The protective effect of splenic implantation or hemisplenectomy on the survival rate was studied in 34 Wistar rats inoculated intravenously with 8.5 x 10(6) CFU Streptococcus pneumoniae type 25, 4 months prior to the bacterial challenge, different surgical procedures were performed, dividing the animals into 5 equally large groups: (1) sham operation, (2) hemisplenectomy, (3) splenectomy with a 100% reimplantation, (4) splenectomy with a 50% reimplantation, and (5) splenectomy without reimplantation. The observation period after the bacterial inoculation was 13 d. Differences in mean survival rates were found: (1) 13 d, (2) 10.6 d, (3) 7.1 d, (4) 5.6 d, and (5) 3.1 d. The increasing survival rates correlated with increasing weights of the residual splenic tissue. This animal study indicates that residual splenic tissue may account for a lesser tendency to infection.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology; D005260:Female; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013047:Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology* / Q000637:transplantation; D013156:Splenectomy; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000472:pathogenicity*