CHANGE OF A- AND B-TRANSFERASE LEVEL IN PLASMA WITH ACUTE LEUKEMIA

We studied the A- and B-transferase in the plasma of leukemic patients in relation to their clinical course. The level of A- and B-transferase was obtained from the intensity of A and B antigen on the red cell membrane of blood group O converted by the use of UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine or UDP-galactose as a substrate. Significant changes of A- and B-transferase were observed in 13 of 15 patients in the study, but in none of them was seen any extreme decrease of the content of antigen A, B, or H on the red cell membrane. Besides, changes the level of transferase in the plasma were not always proportionate to nuclear cell counts of bone marrow. In observation of blood chimeric twins and A- and B-transferase in allogenic bone marrow transplantation with ABO major miss match, main productive organ of A- and B-transferase in the plasma seemed to exist outside of the bone marrow, suggesting that A- and B-transferase in the plasma was not directly concerned with the process of red cell antigen development. Furthermore, it was found that reduction of A- and B-transferase in the plasma of leukemic patients was not always associated with reduction of A and B antigen on red cell membrane.