Effects of Splenectomy on Natural Killer Cell Levels in β-Thalassemia Major Patients.

Aim: In this study, we investigated how splenectomy affects natural killer (NK) cell levels in patients with β-thalassemia major (β-TM).
Materials and Methods: Seventy patients with β-TM (38 splenectomized and 32 nonsplenectomized) and 25 healthy controls were included in this study. The hemogram parameters, ferritin, T lymphocyte, T-helper cell, T-suppressor cell, and NK cell numbers, were measured.
Results: The T lymphocyte (CD3 ⁺ ) level was found to be significantly higher in the patient group (p < 0.05). CD3 ⁺ /CD4 ⁺ T lymphocytes were detected to be significantly higher in the patient group (p < 0.05). Although the CD3 ⁺ /CD4 ⁺ T lymphocyte level was significantly higher in the nonsplenectomy group (p < 0.05), this was not the case in the splenectomy group. When the patient and control groups were compared, no significant difference was detected regarding CD3 ⁺ /CD8 ⁺ T lymphocyte levels. CD3 ^- /CD16 ⁺ CD56 ⁺ NK cell level was found to be significantly lower only in the splenectomy group than in the control group (p < 0.05). We found that there was a significant negative correlation between serum ferritin levels and both total lymphocyte (r = -0.617) and CD3 ⁺ lymphocyte (r = -0.718) levels in the control group (p < 0.05). A significant negative correlation was detected between serum ferritin levels and CD3 ^- /CD16 ⁺ CD56 ⁺ NK cell levels in the patient group (r = -0.410) (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Splenectomy reduces NK cell levels in patients with β-TM. The negative relationship between ferritin levels and NK cells indicates that ferritin levels should be kept under control in patients with β-TM.
(© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)