Abstract
Summary
A prospective study was conducted to define the content, significance, and source of lysozyme present in the pleural fluid in human diseases. The pleural fluid lysozyme activity is similar in various malignant and nonmalignant transudates and exudates, and is of limited diagnostic value. The pleural fluid activity correlated well with that of paired serum samples but it had poor correlation with the disease state, the pleural fluid granulocyte counts, and total white blood cell counts. The data suggest that the pleural fluid lysozyme may be derived primarily from the blood and that it is not the product of inflammatory or neo-plastic cells in the pleural fluid itself.
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