[Lysozyme-positive cells and ultrastructural findings in granulomatous and histiocyte-proliferative skin diseases].

Immunohistochemically, the presence of lysozyme (LZ) has been detected by the antibody against human LZ in cytoplasm of cells from granulomatous and histiocyte-proliferative skin diseases. To detect LZ in these cells morphologically, I have done electron microscopic observations of the following skin diseases; sarcoidosis, lupus vulgaris, lupus miliaris disseminatus faciei (LMDF), tattoo granuloma, lichen nitidus, foreign body granuloma, granuloma annulare, xanthelasma, xanthoma tuberosum, xanthoma planum, juvenile xanthogranuloma, giant cell tumor of tendon sheath, dermatofibroma, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, granulation tissue of burn, hypertrophic scar, and histiocytosis X. From both the immunohistochemical and the electron microscopic features it was concluded that a) immunohistochemically LZ-positive cells from lesions of sarcoidosis, lupus vulgaris, LMDF and tattoo granuloma had a number of electron-lucent bodies (ELB) or microvesicles in their cytoplasm, b) lichen nitidus and xanthoma tuberosum had few LZ-positive cells and the ELB were not observed, and c) the other diseases were LZ-negative, and the ELB were also absent. It is suggested that LZ is present in the ELB which are observed electron microscopically.