[Splenomegaly and plasma lipids].

Lipid metabolism is influenced by several factors, among them the spleen is supposed to play some spleen. It has been noticed that in the asplenia the level of the triglycerides is raised. On the other hand the patients with myeloproliferative process and splenomegaly have lower level of serum lipids compared with the general population. The aim of this clinical study was to estimate the level of: total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG), in group I which consisted of 17 patients with splenomegaly, which had developed during portal hypertension caused by liver cirrhosis, and group II 7 patients with splenomegaly caused by myeloproliferative disease. These patients were compared with the control group III of 25 patients without evidences of metabolism disturbances or splenomegaly. There were no statistically significant differences of the mean values of: TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, and TG between groups I and II. The levels of all serum lipids were lower in the patients with splenomegaly (groups I, II) irrespective of causal factor, compared with the control group III.

CONCLUSIONS

The changes in the serum lipids in the patients with splenomegaly indicate the potential role which the spleen can play the spleen in the lipid metabolism.