Specimen Requirements

Title

Lysozyme, Serum (Muramidase)

Specimen Requirement

Collect SST or red top/1 mL serum. After 30 minutes of clotting, promptly centrifuge and send. If collecting red top, serum must be separated and transferred to a screw top plastic vial within 1 hour of collection, indicate sample type on vial before sending.

Delayed separation of the serum can result in spuriously high levels of lysozyme, presumably because of the breakdown of leukocytes.

Methodology

Enzymatic

Stability

Room temp: 24 hours, Refrigerated: 15 days, Frozen: 18 days

Reference Range

By Report*

Turnaround

2-5 days, Performed Monday-Saturday

Clinical Use

Lysozyme in the serum is primarily due to the degradation of granulocytes and monocytes and its concentration reflects the turnover of these cells. Increases are seen in benign and malignant processes. Serum lysozyme is elevated in patients with acute or chronic granulocytic or monocytic leukemias and levels decrease with successful treatment. Conversely, patients with lymphocytic leukemia may have depressed plasma lysozyme levels.

Test Code

LYSO