Heterotopic Splenic Autotranspiantation in the Prevention of Haemophilus influenzae Meningitis and Fatal Sepsis in Sprague-Dawley Rats

It has been suggested that autotransplantation of splenic tissue following trauma may result in splenic implants that protect the human host from severe infection with encapsulated bacteria. To test this hypothesis. Sprague-Dawley rats underwent sham operation. splenectomy. or splenectomy followed by autotransplantation of splenic fragments into the peritoneal cavity. Three months later. they were inoculated intranasally with H. influenzae b. The incidence and severity of bacteremia and meningitis were determined subsequently in 1 5 randomly selected rats from each group. Splenosis did not appear to confer significant protection against bloodstream dissemination. However. significantly more (p = 0.005) asplenic rats (1 3 I 1 5) developed meningitis than did splenosed rats (6/ 1 5). None of the rats with normal splenic tissue developed CNS infection. Thus. the occurrence of meningitis was reduced in autotransplanted rats as compared to asplenic rats. Ten remaining rats from each group were followed for 3 wk after inoculation and the number of deaths was recorded. All sham-operated and autotransplanted rats survived. whereas 7 of 10 asplenic rats died (p = 0.003). These studies indicate that surgically created splenosis offers the potential for reducing the risk of life-threatening sepsis.