Alterations in salivary IgA levels in infectious and inflammatory disorders of upper respiratory tract

Background and aim: the airway surfaces are one of the most commonways of entry of infectious agents. the impact of upper respiratory tract diseaseson salivary iga production has not been fully understood. therefore, in this study,we investigated the salivary iga levels in patients suffered from upper respiratorytract diseases to indicate the effect of these diseases on salivary iga production.methods: in this study, salivary iga level of 156 patients with inflammatorydiseases of the upper respiratory tract including chronic rhinosinusitis, ear andpharynx diseases have been evaluated by direct immunoenzymatic determination.results: in pharynx disorders 11.8 % of patients were iga deficient , 76.2 %were normal and11.8 % had elevated level of iga .in patients with chronicrhinosinusitis iga deficiency was observed in 9.2 % , 75.9 % were normal andthere was an elevation in 14.8 % of patients .in ear disorders 11.6% were igadeficient ,76.7 % normal and 11.6 % had elevated iga level.conclusion: this study provided evidence for the first time that changes insalivary iga level are almost the same in different sites of infectious andinflammatory diseases of upper respiratory tract. our investigation revealed thatlocal up regulation of salivary iga is not particular interest in majority of patientswith upper respiratory tract infections.