Microalbuminuria as renal marker in recurrent acute tonsillitis and tonsillar hypertrophy in children

Abstract

Raised levels of microalbuminuria pointing out glomerular abnormality and indicate renal damage. Glomerulonephritis is caused by immune reaction leading to the formation of circulating immune complexes that are deposited on the basal membrane of the glomerulus. The time course and the appearance of antibodies against infectious agents both play very important roles in its clinical presentation. Antibodies against streptococci have not a protective role, but offers a useful marker of the presence or absence of recent infection. This work studies the presence of microalbuminuria and circulating anti-streptococcal antibodies, namely, anti-streptolysin O and anti-deoxyribonuclease B antibodies in ninety children which underwent tonsillectomy due to infectious and obstructive tonsillar pathology. These children were divided in recurrent acute tonsillitis ( n=34), recurrent tonsillitis with tonsillar hypertrophy ( n=26), and tonsillar hypertrophy ( n=30). It was found in recurrent acute tonsillitis a moderate correlation between microalbuminuria and anti-streptolysin O, and a weak correlation between microalbuminuria and anti-deoxyribonuclease B antibodies. It was also found significant differences of the levels of anti-streptococcal antibodies between the three groups of pathologies. It is proposed the determination of microalbuminuria, an inexpensive and harmless test, as an indicator of possible renal damage in recurrent acute tonsillitis.