Dalma Dojcsák, Flóra Farkas, Tamás Farkas, János Papp, Attila Garami, Béla Viskolcz and Csaba Váradi
Abstract
The identification of pediatric appendicitis is challenging due to the lack of specific markers
thereby several factors are included in the diagnostic process such as abdominal pain, ultrasonography
and altered laboratory parameters (C reactive protein, absolute neutrophil cell number and
white blood cell number). The glycosylation pattern of serum N-glycome was analyzed in this
study of 38 controls and 40 patients with pediatric appendicitis. The glycans were released by
enzymatic deglycosylation followed by fluorescent labeling and solid-phase extraction. The prepared
samples were analyzed by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography with fluorescence
and mass-spectrometric detection. The generated data were analyzed by multiple statistical tests
involving the most important laboratory parameters as well. Significant differences associated with
the examined patient groups were revealed suggesting the potential use of glycosylation analysis
supporting the detection of pediatric appendicitis.
Keywords: serum glycosylation; liquid chromatography; mass spectrometry; appendicitis