Hypertrophy of the pharyngeal tonsil (HPT) is considered one of the most common diseases of the ENT organs. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of interleukin 10 (IL-10) gene polymorphism and infections caused by human herpesviruses 6 (HHV6), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in children with HPT. The study included 106 children with HPT and 38 healthy children at the age from 2 to 11 years. All children with HPT were divided into three subgroups depending on the pharyngeal tonsil size. Viruses were determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction using commercially available kits (QIAGEN, Germany). In patients with HPT, HHV6 was more frequently detected as compared with CMV and EBV. Among the three subgroups of children with HPT, infections with HHV6 and EBV viruses predominated in children with a maximal degree of hypertrophy of the pharyngeal tonsil. The frequency of the IL-10 gene rs1800896 GG genotype was higher in the control group of children. Significantly higher frequencies of the G allele and GG and GA genotypes for this gene were detected in the subgroup of children with the lowest size of the pharyngeal tonsil as compared with other subgroups. We hypothesized that infections with HHV6 and EBV can contribute to an increase in the pharyngeal tonsil size. The IL-10 rs1800896 GG genotype can contribute to resistance to hypertrophy of the pharyngeal tonsil.

咽扁桃体肥大（HPT）被认为是耳鼻喉器官最常见的疾病之一。本研究的目的是探讨白介素 10 (IL-10) 基因多态性和人类疱疹病毒 6 (HHV6)、巨细胞病毒 (CMV) 和 Epstein-Barr 病毒 (EBV) 感染在 HPT 儿童中的作用。该研究包括 106 名患有 HPT 的儿童和 38 名 2 至 11 岁的健康儿童。所有患有 HPT 的儿童根据咽扁桃体大小分为三个亚组。使用市售试剂盒（QIAGEN，德国）通过实时定量聚合酶链反应测定病毒。在 HPT 患者中，与 CMV 和 EBV 相比，HHV6 的检出率更高。在 HPT 儿童的三个亚组中，HHV6 和 EBV 病毒感染在咽扁桃体最严重肥大的儿童中占主导地位。对照组儿童中IL-10基因rs1800896 GG基因型的频率较高。与其他亚组相比，在咽扁桃体尺寸最小的儿童亚组中检测到 G 等位基因以及该基因的 GG 和 GA 基因型的频率显着更高。我们假设 HHV6 和 EBV 感染可能导致咽扁桃体增大。IL-10 rs1800896 GG 基因型有助于抵抗咽扁桃体肥大。