The protection of small amounts of splenic tissue against intravenous pneumococcal challenge following subtotal splenectomy

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Abstract
The asplenic state increases susceptibility to overwhelming bacterial infection. We studied the ability of small amounts of splenic tissue to protect against intravenous pneumococcal challenge following subtotal splenectomy in which approximately 75% of the spleen was removed. Animals that had undergone subtotal splenectomy were more resistant to challenge than were asplenic animals, but were not as resistant as were control animals. The small amount of residual splenic tissue confers some degree of protection against intravenous bacterial challenge.