Acidic alpha-D-mannosidase in phenotypically different leukemic lymphoid cells.

The activity of acid alpha-mannosidase in phenotypically characterized lymphoid cells, isolated from peripheral blood, spleen and lymph nodes of patients with various lymphoproliferative disorders has been studied. Cells with different immunophenotypes were shown to have different alpha-mannosidase activity levels. The lowest alpha-mannosidase activity was observed in cells phenotypically corresponding to early B cells obtained from B-CLL patients. The highest activity was determined in cells with phenotypes of activated, CD11c-expressing B cells from B-NHL and HCL patients. There were considerable differences in alpha-mannosidase activity between peripheral blood and spleen lymphoid cells of B-NHL patients with spleen damage. The data obtained may be used in classification, primary diagnosis and staging of hematopoietic malignancies.