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The presence of high concentrations of lysozyme in the stools of patients with ulcerative colitis has been demonstrated by a number of observers. It has been suggested that this enzyme may play a fundamental role in causing destruction of the colonic mucosa. Recent observations, showing that a high concentration of lysozyme is present also in granulation tissue and in leukocytes, have cast doubt on this hypothesis and suggest that the large amount of the enzyme in the feces of patients with ulcerative colitis is a result rather than a cause of the inflammatory process.The present report summarizes a series of studies designed to elucidate the source of lysozyme in the stools in ulcerative colitis. Our observations lead us to believe that the enzyme content of the feces is derived predominantly from the white blood cells present in the intestinal wall and stools in this disease. REVIEW OF LITERATUREIn 1922 Fleming (1) drew attention to a powerful bacteriolytic agent, which he named "Lysozyme," present in many body tissues and secretions of man and animals. He noted the high levels of this enzyme in tears, nasal secretion, egg white and leukocytes. Since then, many investigators have helped to clarify the nature of this enzyme, and it is now known to be a protein of low molecular weight capable of depolymerizing certain muco-polysaccharides. Meyer and Hahnel (2) contributed much toward the fundamental knowledge of this enzyme and devised an excellent viscosimetric technique for its quantitation in tissues and secretions, using as a substrate a mucopolysaccharide obtained from the micrococcus lysodeikticus.