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Updated: Aug 17, 2026
Surgical Porcine Model of Chronic Myocardial Ischemia Treated by Exosome-laden Collagen Patch and Off-pump Coronary Artery Bypass Graft
Published on: September 15, 2023
Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting does not reduce lymphocyte activation
C Blacher1, J Neumann, L A Jung
1Cardiology Disivion, Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. blacher@via-rs.net
Objective:
In this study, we test the hypothesis that off-pump coronary bypass surgery might result in less lymphocyte activation than on-pump coronary surgery. We also study the behavior of lymphocyte activation markers during and after surgery.
Background:
Coronary artery bypass surgery is known to be associated with changes of inflammatory mediators, immune function, and early phase lymphocyte activation, which could cause postoperative lymphopenia and lymphocyte unresponsiveness.
Methods:
We studied lymphocyte activation response in 28 patients randomized to off-pump (n = 13) or on-pump (n = 15) coronary artery bypass surgery. Expression of CD25, CD26, CD69, and DR on T (CD3+) and B (CD19+) lymphocytes on peripheral blood was assessed through flow cytometry.
Results:
The response of T lymphocytes and their activation markers, as well as B lymphocytes and their activation markers, was similar after on- and off-pump surgery. Overall, T lymphocytes decreased to the lowest level 9 h after surgery and tended to increase later. For B lymphocytes, there was early reduction with increase on the 1st postoperative day. There was early activation of CD69+ and late activation of CD25+ on T lymphocytes. For B lymphocytes, there was early activation of CD69+ and late activation of DR+.
Conclusions:
(1) Compared to on-pump cardiopulmonary bypass, off-pump surgery does not reduce lymphocyte activation. (2) Coronary bypass surgery causes the early activation of lymphocytes, as evidenced by the increased expression of lymphocyte activation markers.
