RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the impact and mechanism of Shengmai Injection (SMI) on the immunological function changes after cardiopulmonary bypass.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty patients with rheumatic heart valve disease were selected and assigned randomly to two groups: 20 in the control group and 20 in the SMI group. Peripheral blood samples were taken at various time points, i.e. 3 days before operation (T1), 10 min after terminal of CPB (T2), the first (T3), third (T4), and seventh (T5) day after operation, for counting white blood cell (WBC), neutrophils and lymphocytes; percentage of T lymphocytes (CD3+ mononuclear cells) and its subsets (CD4+ and CD8+) to calculate CD4+/CD8+ ratio; and the serum content of immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM) as well as serum concentration of interleukin-8 (IL-8) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) were assayed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the control group, in the SMI group, WBC and neutrophil count were lower at T2 (P < 0.01); percentages of CD3+ and CD4+ lower at T4 and T5 (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); percentage of CD8+ higher at T2 to T5 (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); CD4+/CD8+ ratio lower at T3 to T5 (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); IgG lower at T2 (P < 0.05); IgA higher at T3 (P < 0.05); IgM higher at T3 to T5 (P < 0.05); IL-8 lower at T2 to T4 (P < 0.05); and IL-10 higher at T2 (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Application of SMI in the perioperative period can enhance the humoral immunity and inhibit the cellular immunity after CPB, it could also reduce the systemic inflammatory reaction and improve the prognosis of patients.</p>