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A comparative assessment of serum, plasma and urine amylase levels in typhoid fever and HIV /AIDS patients

Idonije O. B., Festus O. O. and Agbebaku S. O.

The clinical use of Amylase enzyme activity as a diagnostic tool for pancreatic diseases has been well established but data on its use in other diseases such as typhoid fever and HIV/AIDS is scanty hence we carried out a Comparative assessment of the serum, plasma and Urine Amylase Levels (activities) in Typhoid fever and HIV /AIDS patients in order to ascertain its diagnostic value. Serum / plasma samples were collected from 206 subjects: 81 typhoid fever patients, 75 HIV infected and 50 normal subjects. Urine samples were also collected from all the subjects. The mean urinary amylase levels in typhoid fever, HIV infected and normal subjects were found to be higher than the mean serum or plasma amylase levels of the same subjects. The mean serum amylase levels of typhoid fever, HIV infected and normal subject were found to be almost the same with the mean plasma amylase levels of the subjects examined as both fell within the normal range. The mean serum plasma and urine amylase levels of typhoid fever and HIV infected subjects were found to be higher when compared with that of the normal subjects even though they all fell within the normal reference range. This result notwithstanding, showed that serum/plasma or urine amylase activity could be used as a diagnostic tool for typhoid fever and HIV/ AIDS patients if these tests are carried out as early as possible. It therefore recommended that more studies be done to ascertain the usefulness of Serum and urinary amylase analysis in differentiate between malaria and typhoid fevers both of which have similar clinical features.