A study on the serum adenosine deaminase activity in patients with typhoid Fever and other febrile illnesses.

BACKGROUND Adenosine Deaminase (ADA) has been suggested to be an important enzyme which is associated with the cell mediated immunity, but its clinical significance in typhoid fever has not yet been characterized. The present study was taken up to evaluate the serum ADA activity in patients of typhoid fever. The levels of ADA were also measured in the patients who were suffering from other febrile illnesses. MATERIAL AND METHOD This was a case control study. The subjects who were included in this study were divided into 3 groups. Group A consisted of 50 normal healthy individuals who served as the controls. Group B consisted of 50 patients, both males and females of all age groups, who were suffering from culture positive typhoid fever. Group C consisted of 50 patients who were suffering from febrile illnesses other than typhoid fever like viral fever, gastro enteritis, malaria, tonsillitis, upper respiratory tract infections, etc. The serum levels of ADA were estimated in all the subjects who were under study. RESULTS The serum ADA level was found to be increased in the patients of typhoid fever as compared to that in those with other febrile illnesses and in the controls. CONCLUSION From the present study, it can be concluded that there was a statistically significant increase in the serum ADA levels in the patients with typhoid.