Blood leucocyte enzymes. II. Activities at 8-9 a.m. in cells of normal subjects, chronic lymphatic leukaemia and chronic myeloid leukaemia patients.

The activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (D-glucose-6-phosphate: NADP oxidoreductase, G6PD), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-phospho-D-gluconate: NADP oxidoreductase, 6PGD), hexokinase (ATP: D-hexose 6-phosphotransferase, Hx), lactate dehydrogenase (D-lactate: NAD oxidoreductase, LDH). glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (L-aspartate: 2 oxoglutarate aminotransferase, GOT) and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) were measured at 8 a.m. in leucocytes of healthy individuals and patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), chronic lymphatic leukaemia (CLL), myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia and polycythaemia vera. In view of the heterogeneity of the leucocyte populations in these conditions, the enzyme activities were correlated to the number of immature cells in CML and to the percentage of lymphocytes in CLL. No differences in the enzyme activities were found between the white cells of healthy individuals, myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia and polycythaemia vera. In CML the activities of all enzymes except GOT correlated directly with the number of immature cells; an inverse correlation with the number of lymphocytes was observed in CLL. GOT was the only enzyme whose activity correlated with the number of lymphocytes in the cell suspension. Furthermore, a significantly higher activity of this enzyme was found in Ficoll-isolated CLL lymphocytes as compared to normal lymphocytes.