Detection tonsillar pathology by superoxide dismutase levels. Comparative study of surgical indications for tonsillectomy

: If oxygen-derived free radicals are considered the definitive cause of tonsillar damage after infection, it seems reasonable that scavenger antioxidants levels could be used as a detector of tissue impairment. So, superoxide dismutase (SOD) amounts were measured in palatine tonsils and peripheral blood on subjects bearing of hypertrophy without infection (H, n = 83), recurrent tonsillitis (RA, n = 75), and peritonsillar abscess (PA, n = 12). SOD levels in both tonsillar cultures supernatants and peripheral blood erythrocytes were detected progressively increased in groups with H, RA and PA, which were statistically significative (ANOVA-test; p < 0.001). A significative correlation between tissue and blood was observed for all the groups. We can conclude that SOD concentration in palatine tonsils and/or peripheral blood increases proportionally to infections incidence, which allows detecting patients with functional damage, and recommending objectively tonsillectomy or at least monitoring clinical response for a therapy. Practical use and results obtained from comparison to tonsil biopsies are discussed.