Ribonucleotide Content of Mononuclear Cells from Normal Subjects and Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Increased Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Concentration in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Lymphocytes¹

The ribonucleotide content of lymphocytes obtained from normal subjects and patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was determined by means of high-performance liquid chromatography. The levels of normal B- and T-cells were compared to each other as well as those of their CLL counterparts. Unfractionated CLL lymphocytes, predominantly B-cells, had significantly lower levels of adenosine-5′-triphosphate, cytidine-5′-triphosphate, uridine-5′-triphosphate, cytidine-5′-diphosphate, and guanosine-5′-phosphate, while the concentration of nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide was significantly higher than in normal unfractionated lymphocytes which consisted mainly of T-cells. For enriched populations: (a) CLL B-cells had much lower adenosine-5′-triphosphate (3439 versus 5689) (pmol/1 × 10⁷ cells), cytidine-5′-triphosphate (107 versus 313), guanosine-5′-triphosphate (462 versus 978), and uridine-5′-triphosphate (633 versus 1214) than normal B-cells; (b) CLL T-enriched subpopulations had significantly lower ribonucleoside triphosphates, adenosine-5′-triphosphate (3217 versus 5468), cytidine-5′-triphosphate (119 versus 209), guanosine-5′-triphosphate (422 versus 826), and uridine-5′-triphosphate (504 versus 969) than normal T-cells. The lower ribonucleoside triphosphate levels found in unfractionated CLL lymphocytes, therefore, are the result of differences between the CLL and normal B-cells as well as between CLL and normal T-cells. These findings establish a framework for studying the reasons underlying the decreased ribonucleoside triphosphate levels in unfractionated CLL lymphocytes. T-helper and T-suppressor lymphocytes showed similar ribonucleotide patterns. Nucleoside and base levels were significantly higher in normal monocytes than in normal lymphocytes.

The only compound found to be increased in the CLL Blymphocytes when compared to their normal counterparts was nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide. The level in CLL lymphocytes was 404 versus 209 pmol/10⁷ cells for normal B-lymphocytes. No correlation was found between any ribonucleotide levels and the expression of 5′-nucleotidase activity.