STUDIES ON NORMAL AND LEUKEMIC LEUKOCYTES. III. PYRIDINE NUCLEOTIDES*

Abstract
The fluorometric method of Bassham and associates (Biochem. J. 1959, 73, 491) was adapted to the determination of the levels of the oxidized and reduced diphos-phopyridine nucleotide (DPN, DPNH) and triphosphopyridine nucleotide (TPN, TPNH) coenzymes. The levels of these coenzymes are comparable in normal and leukemic cells with the exception that the DPN content in cells from acute leukemia (116 m[mu]m/109 leukocytes) was considerably greater than normal (32 m[mu]m/109 leukocytes). The DPN level in chronic myelocytic leukemia patients was 70 m[mu]m/109 leukocytes. The relative amounts of the individual pyridine nucleotides in normal leukocytes resembles the pattern found in rat liver. The relative amounts of DPN and TPNH in human leukemic cells are higher than those reported for various solid tumors.