Biological Response to Surgical Stress -With Special Emphasis on the pathology of Cellular Immunosuppression and its Underlying Mechanism-

Kenji Ogawa, Takao Katsube, Masanori Hirai, Toshiaki Watanabe, Shinji Wakasugi, Yoshihiko Naritaka, Hirokazu Yagawa, Tetsuro Kajiwara

Department of Surgery, Tokyo Women's Medical College Daini Hospital

We studied the pathology of cellular immunosuppression, its underlying mechanism and the effect of preoperative administration of PSK on immunopotency, and obtained the following results. 1) Surgical stress led to cellular immunosuppression in gastro-intestinal cancer patients. 2) The immunological pathology principally involved reduced ratios of helperinducer T cells, cytotoxic T cells and NK cells, and an elevated ratio of suppressor T cells in peripheral lymphocytes. 3) The underlying mechanism was tracted to the involvement of increased endocrine hormones, such as catecholamine and cortisol, and increased acute phase reactants, such as IL-6 and IAP. 4) It is important to prevent cellular immunosuppression during the phase between the pre-and post-operative periods. In this context, PSK, a BRM, is useful, as it contributes to the maintenace of immunopotency when administered preoperatively.

Key words
cellular immunosuppression, surgical stress, preoperative administration of PSK

Reprint requests
Kenji Ogawa Department of Surgery, Tokyo Women's Medical College Daini Hospital
2-1-10 Nishiogu, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo, 116 JAPAN

Accepted
July 6, 1992

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