Changes of spleen function of hepatic cirrhosis after liver transplantation in rats

Objective: To investigate the changes of spleen function of hepatic cirrhosis rats after liver transplantation.Methods: Hepatic cirrhosis model was established in rats with subcutaneous injections of carbon tetrachloride.Liver transplantation model was established with two-cuff technique.The cell counts of peripheral blood and the morphological changes of spleen were observed before and after liver transplantation in hepatic cirrhosis rats.The spleen T lymphocyte subsets before and after liver transplantation were also assayed by using immunofluorescence staining and flow cytometry.Results: Before liver transplantation,the cell counts in peripheral blood of hepatic cirrhosis rats were significantly decreased(P<0.01).The pathological sections of spleen showed that the areas of white pulp were decreased(P<0.01),and the areas of spleen trabecula were increased(P<0.01).Meanwhile,the ratio of CD₄/CD₈ of spleen T lymphocyte subsets was decreased(P<0.01)while after liver transplantation,the cell counts of peripheral blood were significantly increased(P<0.01).The pathological sections of spleen showed that the areas of white pulp were increased(P<0.01),and the areas of spleen trabecula were decreased(P<0.05).Meanwhile,the ratio of CD₄/CD₈ of spleen T lymphocyte subsets was increased(P<0.01).Conclusions: Hypersplenism of hepatic cirrhosis rats could be significantly relieved after liver transplantation.Liver transplantation can improve the impaired function of spleen.