TABLE 2.

Histological and immunohistological features of the spleen in different case groups^a

Parameter	Control (n = 16)	Malaria (n = 15)	Sepsis (n = 12)
Area covered by red pulp (%)	62 (45.9-81)	65 (57-81)	69.6 (49-79.3)
Spleen wt (g)	130 (90-170)	300 (150-400)c	252 (115-374)
% of reactive B-cell follicles	8.9 (2.3-34.7)	0 (0-16)d	3.6 (0-8.3)d
No. of B cells in marginal zone (0.01 mm−2)	30 (27.5-35.5)	10 (6-11)c	28 (26-32)
No. of B cells in red pulp (0.1 mm−2)	23 (12.45-35.8)	6.6 (1-12.3)c	6.6 (0.66-12.8)c
No. of B cells in red pulp corrected by wtb	2,880 (1,696-4,680)	2,283 (200-4,200)	628 (89-1,870)c
No. of T cells in red pulp (0.1 mm−2)	19.5 (7.4-23.25)	10 (6.2-47.5)	21 (12.75-51)
No. of T cells in red pulp corrected by wtb	2,100 (893-3,147)	6,700 (3,392-11,152)d	3,820 (1,302-9,516)
No. of macrophages in red pulp (0.1 mm−2)	75 (61-100)	67 (55-95)	83 (71-97)
No. of macrophages in red pulp corrected by wtb	10,240 (5,480-23,004)	24,175 (14,025-34,950)d	13,476 (8,654-24,368)
No. of neutrophils in red pulp (0.1 mm−2)	101 (84-111)	61 (49-74)d	66 (58-80)d
No. of neutrophils in red pulp corrected by wtb	12,750 (8,960-14,140)	25,750 (16,550-35,950)	13,227 (8,654-24,368)

^aThe data are the medians and (in parentheses) the 25th and 75th percentiles.

^bThe observed increase in spleen weight in patients with malaria was associated with increased spleen volume, most likely due to an increased number of cells. Because data for spleen volume in these patients were not available, we used splenic weight as a crude estimate of volume and multiplied the number of cells observed per area counted by spleen weight to obtain an estimate of whether the overall number of cells in a particular cell population remained constant or changed.

^cP < 0.001 as determined by the Mann-Whitney U test for a comparison of the control data and the malaria or sepsis data.

^dP < 0.01 as determined by the Mann-Whitney U test for a comparison of control data and the malaria or sepsis data.