Effect of splenectomy on cell mediated immunity in bilharzial patients with splenomegaly

The effect of splenectomy on cell mediated immunity was studied in 15 male patients with mean age 28 years +/- 9 s.d. with bilharzial splenomegaly and oesophageal varices, for comparison, ten healthy control males with mean age 28 years +/- 4 s.d. were included. The cellular immune response was assessed before and one month after splenectomy. The assessment included the enumeration of T lymphocyte subsets in vitro using monoclonal antibodies and in vivo by intradermal skin test for delayed reaction using specific Schistosoma mansoni adult antigen and non specific purified protein derivatives (P.P.D.). The result showed that the possibility of the delayed skin reaction was higher after splenectomy, also there was an increase in the number of T helper cells and reduction in number of T suppressor cell but the number of pan T cell did not significantly change. This result indicates that the ratio of T helper/T suppressor ratio improved after splenectomy with a concomitant improvement of the immunological response of the patients.