Expression and significance of pepsin in lingual tonsil hypertrophy

Abstract

Objective: To discuss the relationship between lingual tonsil hypertrophy and laryngopharyngeal reflux. Methods: Ninety-two patients who received throat surgery in Nanfang Hospital between October 2015 and October 2016 were enrolled. Twenty-six healthy volunteers were recruited as normal controls. All participants were assessed with the reflux finding score(RFS) and the size of lingual tonsils were evaluated using a clinical grading system proposed by Friedman under electronic laryngoscope. The score of reflux symptom index(RSI), personal history and medical history were gathered. Biopsy specimens of lingual tonsils were taken from all participants for the immunohistochemical stain of pepsin.SPSS 19.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: There were 46.2% (12/26) pepsin-positive and 53.8% (14/26) pepsin-negative volunteers in normal controls. There were 87.0% (80/92) pepsin-positive and 13.0% (12/92) pepsin-negative patients in study group. The severity of lingual tonsil hypertrophy and expression intensity of pepsin in patients were significantly higher in volunteers (Z=-3.636, Z=-5.273, P<0.01). The severity of lingual tonsil hypertrophy was positively associated with the pepsin level in patients (r=0.556, P<0.01). The patients with pepsin-positive expression showed significant correlation between lingual tonsil hypertrophy and the positive rate of RSI and RFS (r=0.258, r=0.225, P<0.05). Analysis of correlated factors indicated that lingual tonsil hypertrophy was associated with smoking (χ(2)=8.502, P<0.05). Conclusions: The expression of pepsin can be detected in lingual tonsil tissues. The lingual tonsil hypertrophy is closely related to laryngopharyngeal reflux.