Leukocyte Level as a Potential Factor Determining Hepatic Phagocytosis Following Surgery 1

Summary

The peripheral leukocyte level and serum opsonic activity were evaluated in relationship to the hepatic Kupffer cell clearance capacity following surgery. Hepatic phagocytic clearance was significantly depressed during the early postsurgery period, with recovery and hyperfunction being apparent by 24 and 48 hr postsurgery. The level of RE function after surgery was closely related to alterations in both the circulating level of opsonins and the peripheral leukocyte level. However, a significant role for hepatic vascular alterations in the host surgery RE depression was not demonstrated. While previous studies demonstrate the importance of opsonins as a regulator of intravascular phagocytosis, the present data further suggest a potential relationship of fixed RE cell functional activity to the blood leukocyte level following surgery. The significance of these findings to altered host defense mechanisms against bacterial infection and tumor growth following surgical intervention remains to be clearly established. The evidence appears to suggest that circulating leukocytes may be an important factor in the regulation of fixed RE cell phagocytic activity mediated via the regulation of plasma opsonic activity.