急性白血病における好中球superoxide産生能の検討

抄録

Superoxide of neutrophils is one of the acitive oxygens related to intracellular bactericidal activities. In this study, superoxide production of neutrophils in both normal subjects and patients with acute leukemia was examined in order to evaluate the cause of the high susecptibility to infection. The results were as follows.
1. Superoxide production of neutrophils was significantly lower in the older subjects (70-89 y.o.) than in the younger ones (20-69 y.o.). No significant difference was shown between males and females.
2. Before antileukemic chemotherapy superoxide production was 4.09±1.43 nmol/min/10⁶ PMNs in patients with acute leukemia (normal subjects; 6.45±1.33 nmol/min/10⁶ PMNs). During induction chemotherapy it decreased to a level of 3.56±1.18 nmol/min/10⁶ PMNs and it increased up to normal or slightly higer levels in a complete remission. The changes in superoxide production did not relate to the types of acute leukemia.
3. An inverse correlation between superoxide production of neutrophils and the total number of leukemic cells in the bone marrow was recognized.
The results may suggest that the decrease in superoxide production of neutrophils contribute one of the causes of high susceptibility to infection in the elderly men and patints with acute leukemia.