1987 Volume 28 Issue 10 Pages 1790-1794
A 28-year-old man, admitted to our hospital complaining of purpura, was found to have chronic myelogenous leukemia. On admission, his peripheral blood leukocyte count was 281×103/μl and blood glucose level was 15mg/dl, although he showed no signs of hypoglycemia. His leukocyte counts and blood glucose continued to show a significant negative correlation (P<0.001) throughout his clinical course. In vitro studies indicated that increased peripheral blood leukocytes consumed plasma glucose during the period before analysis of glucose level. From this result, we concluded that the decreased glucose level measured in this blood was secondary to the utilization of glucose by cellular elements during storage.
In 1979, Fox et al. reported that leukocyte consumed oxygen causing an apparent decrease in arterial blood oxygen and called this phenomenon leukocyte larceny.
Our finding of pseudohypoglycemia is another aspect of leukocyte larceny. To accurately measure blood glucose level it is necessary to stop consumption of blood glucose. We found that chilling the blood sample in an ice bath was more effective in stopping glucose consumption than adding an inhibitor of glycolysis (NaF: 1.25mg/ml, EDTA·2Na: 3.6mg/ml).
