Lysozyme and hypokalaemia.

Serum potassium, lysozyme and urinary lysozyme measurements were made in 98 patients with tuberculosis, 18 with sarcoidosis and 30 with acute myeloid leukaemia. Serum K concentration fell below 3·5 mmol/l in 17 of the 30 leukaemic patients and only 7 of these had raised serum lysozyme concentrations. None of the patients in the tuberculosis-sarcoidosis group with lysozymaemia or lysozymuria developed hypokalaemia. This study suggests that raised lysozyme concentrations are not causally related to hypokalaemia.