Transfer factor treatment in management of peritonitis condition: An experimental study in rat

BACKGROUND: There is a role for the immune system in improving the outcome of peritonitis cases in children. Transfer factors are one immunomodulatory treatment that can increase the activity of natural killer (NK) cells to produce interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), which is thought to increase the phagocytic activity of macrophages. This study analyzed the effects of transfer factors on the phagocytic activity of macrophages in the intraperitoneal fluid of a Wistar rat model of peritonitis. METHODS: This experimental study had a post-test-only control group design and was carried out at the Laboratory of Pharmacology and Microbiology of Padjadjaran University, Bandung, Indonesia. It analyzed the effect of transfer factors on the phagocytic activity of macrophages in the intraperitoneal fluid of Wistar rats experiencing peritonitis after being injected with Escherichia coli. An unpaired comparative t-test was performed using the SPSS program to analyze the difference between transfer factor administration and macrophage phagocytic activity levels. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between the phagocytosis index values of macrophages in samples treated with transfer factors and those that were untreated (p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Transfer factors increased the phagocytic activity of macrophages in a Wistar rat model of peritonitis. This suggests that transfer factors could have a role as an immunomodulatory treatment for peritonitis.