The effects of heparin and splenectomy on survival and plasma fibronectin levels in rat peritonitis.

Splenectomized patients are predisposed toward developing overwhelming bacterial infections. Administration of heparin is known to improve the survival of animals with intraabdominal sepsis and endotoxemia. The present study evaluates the effect of splenectomy and heparin administration on survival and plasma fibronectin (FN) levels in rats during acute bacterial peritonitis. Peritonitis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) in 48 male Sprague-Dawley rats divided into four equal groups (12 each). Eight rats (66.7%) survived 10 days following CLP. When splenectomy was performed simultaneously (CLPS), the survival rate declined to 16.7% (P less than 0.05). Twenty units of heparin given subcutaneously daily for 5 days improved the survival rate to 66.7% following CLPS (P less than 0.05). When heparin was administered following CLP, the survival rate improved to 83.3% (not significantly higher than CLP alone). Plasma FN levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) on Days 0, 1, 2, 4, 7, and 10 following surgery. The plasma FN levels in splenectomized rats (CLPS +/- heparin) and nonsplenectomized rats (CLP +/- heparin) peaked on the first and second postoperative days, respectively. In comparing FN levels, no significant differences were found between the groups except on the second day--the CLPS + heparin group had a significantly lower FN level on Day 2 than CLP +/- heparin. This suggests that heparin confers protection from intraabdominal sepsis not only in animals with normal spleens but also in splenectomized animals. Plasma FN levels are not strongly influenced by heparin administration and concomitant splenectomy.