[Lysozyme and beta2-microglobulin in cerebrospinal fluids from healthy children and in children with diseases of the central nervous system (author's transl)].

Lysozyme is absent from normal cerebrospinal fluid (C.S.F.) and in C.S.F. from children with viral meningitis. Appreciable amounts of lysozyme were noted in C.S.F. from children with bacterial meningitis (0.23 +/- 0.14 mg/100 ml) and cerebral convulsions (0-0.82 mg/100 ml). The C.S.F.-lysozyme content is a sensitive indicator for bacterial meningitis and important in the differential diagnosis between viral and bacterial meningitis. The beta2-microglobulin content of C.S.F. in healthy children was 0.11 +/- 0.05 mg/100 ml; in children with viral meningitis 0.20 +/- 0.06 mg/100 ml and in children with bacterial meningitis 0.44 +/- 0.17 mg/100 ml. Children with cerebral convulsions had also a rise in C.S.F. beta2-microglobulin.