Implantation of alloplastic material increases survival of mice subsequently exposed to polymicrobial sepsis

• Published in: Langenbeck's archives of surgery Vol. 395; no. 2; pp. 157 - 162
• Main Authors: Kessler, Wolfram, Ebker, Tobias, Koerner, Pia, Poetschke, Christian, Cziupka, Katharina, Traeger, Tobias, Westerholt, Alexandra, Mehmcke, Hendrik, Neher, Friederike, Jack, Robert S., Heidecke, Claus-Dieter, Maier, Stefan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-02-2010
• Subjects: Abdominal Surgery; Animals; Cardiac Surgery; Chemokines - blood; Chemokines - immunology; Colon, Ascending; Cytokines - blood; Cytokines - immunology; Disease Models, Animal; Down-Regulation - immunology; Female; General Surgery; Immunocompetence - immunology; Inflammation - immunology; Lipopolysaccharides - adverse effects; Lipopolysaccharides - immunology; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Original Article; Peritonitis - prevention & control; Prosthesis Implantation; Sepsis - immunology; Sepsis - mortality; Sepsis - prevention & control; Severity of Illness Index; Single-Blind Method; Spleen - cytology; Statistics, Nonparametric; Stents; Survival Rate; Thoracic Surgery; Time Factors; Traumatic Surgery; Vagotomy; Vascular Surgery; Sepsis; Alloplastic material; CASP; Osmotic pumps; Minor surgery; Immune system
• ISSN: 1435-2443; 1435-2451
• DOI: 10.1007/s00423-009-0463-2

Purpose
Major surgery can modulate the immune system and by this the clinical course of following complications. Effects of minor surgical treatments on the immune system and septic complications are poorly understood.
Materials and methods
We investigated the effect of a minor surgical procedure—the implantation of an osmotic pump—on the outcome of experimental polymicrobial sepsis (colon ascendens stent-induced peritonitis, CASP) in mice.
Results
Animals with pumps implanted 3 days prior to CASP showed an attenuated clinical course of sepsis and increased survival. While measured serum cytokine levels were not affected by the minor surgical stress of pump implantation, splenocyte secretion of IFN-gamma in response to lipopolysaccharide was increased.
Conclusion
The early implantation of alloplastic material modulates the immune system and leads to an increased survival of a polymicrobial sepsis. Identifying the molecular nature of this effect might point the way to a new therapeutic approach to reduce sepsis mortality.