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

Abstract

AimIn this study, we investigated how splenectomy affects natural killer (NK) cell levels in patients with β‐thalassemia major (β‐TM).Materials and MethodsSeventy 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.ResultsThe 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).ConclusionSplenectomy 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.