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Clin. Vaccine Immunol. doi:10.1128/CVI.00054-07
Copyright (c) 2008, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Distribution of dipeptidyl peptidase IV in chronic tonsillitis

Clinic for Othorhinolaryngology, Clinical Center Nis, Serbia, Institute of Nephrology & Hemodialysis, Clinical Center Nis, Serbia (predrag-vlahovic@yahoo.com); Institute of Histology & Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Nis, Serbia (avram@medianis.net); Clinic for Othorhinolaryngology, Clinical Center Podgorica, Montenegro (miry@cg.yu)

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: milan.orl{at}bankerinter.net.

	Abstract

In the pathogenesis of recurrent tonsillitis (RT) and tonsillar hypertrophy (TH) different immunological mechanisms are involved. Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) and aminopeptidase N (APN) participate in the regulation of the immune response during inflammation. In this study the localization of DPP IV and enzymatic activity of DPP IV and APN were investigated in 32 patients, 13 with RT and there were 19 with TH, who underwent tonsillectomy. The localization of DPP IV in tonsils was studied using histochemical and immunohistochemical methods. The enzymatic activity of DPP IV and APN in tonsillar lymphocytes and the patient's serum was determined kinetically at 37°C using Gly-Pro-p-nitroanilide (for DPP IV) and Ala-p-nitroanilide (for APN) as chromogenic substrate. In both RT and TH, the localization of DPP IV was found mainly in extrafollicular areas of tonsillar tissue corresponding to the T cells distribution. A significantly higher (p < 0.001) serum DPP IV and APN activities have been found in patients with TH compared to those with RT. The correlation of DPP IV activities in serum and tonsillar lymphocytes was also found in TH (r = 0.518; p < 0.05). Moreover, the results show that DPP IV and APN activities in serum decrease significantly with age. Tonsillar lymphocytes demonstrated a wide range of DPP IV and APN activities without significant differences between the investigated groups. The results of this study show that the localization of DPP IV does not depend on the type of tonsillitis, whereas various DPP IV serums and APN activities in TH and RT suggest a different participation of antigen stimulated tonsils in the immune system.