Vaginal leukocyte esterase positive

Leukocyte lipase is a specific enzyme contained in human leukocytes. This enzyme is often used in clinical medicine to detect the presence of leukocytes in sample collection. However, leukocyte lipase is only present in monocytes and not in other body cells.

Introduction of Leukocyte Lipase

Leukocyte esterase (LE) is a specific enzyme contained in human leukocytes. When inflammation occurs in the body, the chemotaxis of polynuclear leukocytes gathers in the inflammatory path and releases a large number of LE. LE hydrolyzes 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indoleacetate to release bromoindole. The latter causes color change under the condition of aerobic exercise, and the color depth is proportional to the specificity of LE.

However, this type of enzyme only exists in monocytes, not in other cells. Therefore, it is not possible to test other types of white blood cells, but only monocytes, which are commonly known as inflammatory cells. This positive result indicates the presence of white blood cells, that is, monocytes, in the sample tested, indicating the presence of inflammation, but it cannot indicate what the cause of the infection is.

Common problems in retesting leukocyte lipase

The urine sample for leukocyte lipase retest must be collected fresh to prevent the leukocyte count in the urine from being destroyed, resulting in artificial experimental errors between the dry chemical strip method and the microscopic examination. The use of furazolidone may cause a positive result; the use of cefotaxime, penicillin or the presence of formaldehyde in the urine may cause a false negative result. When urine sugar or ratio increases and proteinuria component is >5g/L, leukocyte lipase measurement result is slightly low or negative.

Clinical manifestations of leukocyte lipase

A positive result is common in urinary tract infections, such as pyelonephritis, urethral infection, etc. Leukocyte lipase is present in the cytoplasm of granulocytes. When reticulocytes appear in the urine due to renal transplant rejection or urinary tract tuberculosis, the enzyme is not present and the result is negative. Different levels of positive reactions can occur when the number of granulocytes in the urine is 0.5-15/u. In addition, when the leukocyte lipase in urine is positive, sodium nitrite generally reacts positive and the pH in urine increases.

LE can be used as an indicator of vaginal mucosal damage. Clinical medicine often uses the specificity of LE in test specimens to detect the presence of white blood cells in the specimen collection. Bacterial infection and fungal vaginal disease can be seen from this that the multi-component supercooled white blood cell count increases significantly, so the specificity of leukocyte lipase can reflect the cleanliness of leucorrhea and assist in the diagnosis of Trichomonas vaginitis. Negative "-" or abnormal "±": indicates that the vaginal mucosa is normal and there is no infection; positive "1": more common before and after menstruation and after taking medicine; strongly positive "2": indicates that the vaginal mucosa is damaged and there is infection.