A Study of Urinary and Serum Lysozyme in Patients with Renal Disease

Abstract

LYSOZYME, a bacteriolytic enzyme discovered in 1922 by Sir Alexander Fleming,² is found in a number of biologic fluids. The enzyme is a basic protein of low molecular weight that lyses susceptible bacteria by a reaction with cell-wall mucopolysaccharides releasing N-acetyl amino sugars and N-acetyl amino sugar-peptide complexes.³ Kidney contains more lysozyme activity than any other mammalian tissue,⁴ but little, if any, lysozyme activity is found in normal urine.^{5 , 6} Lysozymuria has been reported in some children with nephrotic syndrome⁷ and in some adults with renal disease,⁶ but no definitive evidence of the source of urinary lysozyme is available.In the . . .