Tissue specific deficiency of lysozyme in ruminants.

The distribution of lysozyme in tissues and fluids of ruminants was examined and it was determined that, except for a few tissues, ruminants were deficient in lysozyme activity compared with other species. The prominent exception was the abomasum of cattle, which had high levels of lysozyme activity. Mixing and extraction studies indicated that the lysozyme deficiency of ruminants was due neither to the presence of inhibitors of lysozyme in ruminant tissue nor to the binding of lysozyme in a manner that interfered with its enzymatic activity or assay. Other investigations have indicated that isozymes of lysozyme are present in ruminants and this study suggests that ruminants have only low levels of the isozyme that is the major isozyme of lysozyme in non-ruminants.