Estimation of Calprotectin Saliva Levels in Patients with Bacterial Tonsillitis

Abstract Background: Tonsillitis is a common respiratory tract disease that affects both adults and children, most cases of tonsillitis occur due to infection by viruses, bacteria, allergies, and respiratory problem. The appearance of the tonsillar exudates on the surface of tonsil’s can distinguish the early stage of bacterial type from viral infection. A cytosolic antibacterial protein called calprotectin, which is mostly generated from neutrophils, is now frequently employed in this capacity. The content of calprotectin in different body fluids varies according to how much inflammation there is. Materials and Methods: A 120 clinical specimens from patients hospitalized in Kirkuk hospitals and 18 control were taken including throat swabs and saliva collection. Culture and biochemical tests used for bacterial isolation and identification then confirmed by Vitek 2 system. The calprotectin is diagnosed by Elisa. Results: The current study showed that the incidence of tonsil infections is caused by gram-positive bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus was the most abundant species with (24) isolates with a percentage of (58.5%), and Staphylococcus hemolyticus had six isolates (14.6%) and Streptococcus parasanguinis with a number of (4) isolates (9.7%), the less abundant isolate were Streptococcus pyogenes (1) isolate (2.4%) also Staphylococcus epidermidis with (1) isolate (2.4%). The younger age group (4–10 years) was the most frequent in infection. Antibiotic sensitivity test was carried out for all bacterial isolates, Staphylococcus spp. showed high resistance to cefotoxin (≥85%), benzylpenicillin (100%), ampicillin-sulbactam (≥85%), oxacillin (≥85%), ceftriaxone (≥85%), and erythromycin (≥62%), while Staphylococcus spp. showed highly sensitive to linezolid (100%), teicoplanin (100%), vancomycin (100%), and rifampicin (100%). S. pyogenes and Streptococcus sanguinis showed high sensitivity to all antibiotics (100%). Calprotectin was high (38.02 ± 5.04) in acute infection of tonsils. Conclusion: Gram-positive bacteria were only the bacterial isolates from tonsillitis patients, calprotectin level were high in acute tonsillitis.