Anwarul Haque.
Post splenectomy septicemia in Sprague-Dawley rats.
Int J Pathol Jan ;1:42-3.

In human beings asplenia results not only from splenectomy (for variety of reasons) but also from such non surgical conditions as sickle cell disease, radiation treatment and congenital absence of spleen. Septicemia in asplenic persons is a serious disease. No age is exempt and the risk persists throughout the life of the subject. The disease had been generally and gradually recognized. Sprague-Dawley rat appears to he quite suitable model for the study of postsplenectomy septicemia. It is easy to perform total and even partial splenectomy in these animals. Moreover if desired, one can also carry out splenic autotransplantation at the same time to evaluate the protective capabilities of these grafts. Sublethal dose for induction of fulminant septicemia by the most common organisms is known and the Sprague-Dawley rats with intact spleen usually don`t succumb to these doses. Protective effects of various kinds of vaccines can also be evaluated on these animals preferably in not too young animals. This is a review article.

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