Particulate ANP-sensitive guanylyl cyclase in blood and bone marrow cells of patients with acute leukemia.

Increases in plasma cyclic GMP levels have been shown to correlate with increased plasma levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in patients with fluid overload due to increased secretion of ANP. There is evidence that plasma cyclic GMP levels are also elevated in some patients with acute leukemia, but increased ANP secretion has not been demonstrated. To elucidate the possibility that a newly expressed guanylyl cyclase may be responsible for the increase of plasma cyclic GMP levels patients with acute and chronic leukemia as well as patients with lymphoma and healthy volunteers were studied. Plasma levels of cyclic GMP were measured and isolated peripheral blood mononuclear or bone marrow cells were incubated with increasing concentrations of ANP. The stimulation of cells was measured as cGMP accumulation in the supernatant. Furthermore guanylyl cyclase activity was measured in membrane preparations of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. While leukocytes of healthy subjects were devoid of detectable ANP-stimulated particulate guanylyl cyclase activity, ANP-sensitivity was observed in seven patients with acute lymphoblastic and in three patients with acute myelogenous leukemia. Cyclic GMP in the supernatant of cells was elevated between 2- and 132-fold of basal when cells were incubated with 1 microM ANP for 60 minutes. Like in healthy volunteers, no effect of ANP on freshly isolated mononuclear cells was observed in cases with chronic leukemia or in patients with lymphoma. Expression of ANP-sensitive particulate gunaylyl cyclase may be connected with malignant transformation of lymphocytes in patients with acute leukemia and might be useful for their diagnosis and classification.