Comparison of Immunoglobulins Status inSplenectomized and Non-splenectomized Patients With Major Beta-Thalassemia

Background: thalassemia is one of the most prevalent genetic disorders globally, andinfections are one of the major causes of death in these patients. various studies haveattributed the increased susceptibility to bacterial infections in thalassemia patients tochanges in their immunological status.objectives: this research aimed to measure serum levels of immunoglobulins (igs) inthalassemia major (tm) patients and in the control group.methods: the study included forty tm patients (20 splenectomized and 20 nonsplenectomized)and 20 healthy participants (the control group). three groups were matchedfor age and gender. mean serum levels of immunoglobulins (igg, iga and igm) were measuredfor all individuals by elisa. p<0.05 was considered the significance level.results: increased serum igg and iga levels and significantly reduced serum igm levelswere observed in the splenectomized patients compared to the non-splenectomizedones. a comparison of the study groups revealed that serum igg and iga levels in thesplenectomized patients and the mean serum igm and igg levels in the non-splenectomizedpatients were higher than those of the healthy participants. the mean serum igm levelsin the splenectomized patients and the mean serum igg levels in the non-splenectomizedpatients were lower than those of the control group.conclusions: the results showed that splenectomy could change the immunologicalstatus of thalassemia patients. nevertheless, the exact mechanism for this change wasnot clear. studying the serum levels of immunoglobulins might be useful in determiningthe severity of infections in tm patients.