Adenosine deaminase activity in lymphocytes of normal persons, leukemic patients, and kidney-transplant recipients.

Abstract

We determined the activity of adenosine deaminase in normal lymphocytes from peripheral blood, leukemic cells from patients with various hematologic malignancies, and mononuclear cells from kidney-transplant patients, by adapting the method of Hopkinson et al. [Ann. Hum. Genet. 32, 361 (1969)] to the centrifugal analyzer. Normal lymphocytes separated on Ficoll-Hypaque from peripheral blood had a mean activity of 1.42 U/10(9) cells (SD = 0.57; N = 33). Cells similarly isolated from patients with acute lymphoproliferative and myeloproliferative disease generally showed greater values, but the ranges overlapped. Cells from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia had activities that were within or below the normal range. Mononuclear cells isolated from the peripheral blood of 15 stable renal allograft recipients showed a mean activity of 1.90 U/10(9) cells (SD = 0.59), not significantly different from normal. In contrast, cells from five patients with biopsy-proven allograft rejection showed a mean activity of 12.84 U/10(9) cells (SD = 10.10), which was significantly different from that of the stable patients.