Blood, 1961, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 314-318.
© 1961 American Society of Hematology, Inc.
Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Activity in Platelets
HAROLD WURZEL 1,
THOMAS MCCREARY 1,
LIESEL BAKER 1, and
LEWIS GUMERMAN 1
1 William Pepper Laboratory of Clinical Medicine and the Hematology Section
of the Medical Clinic, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.
The concentration of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) was
found to be 150-350 units per billion platelets in 52 normal individuals. In 21
of 27 patients with thrombocytopenia the enzyme was found in normal concentrations.
Of the six cases showing thrombocytopenia with lowered enzyme concentration, five were examples of acute leukemia and one of disseminated lupus
erythematosus.
In three individuals with "primaquine sensitive" erythrocytes the defect in
the platelet G-6-PD was also present.
The significance of the lowered enzyme activity in the six patients with
thrombocytopenia is not known.
Submitted on October 24, 1960
Accepted on December 9, 1960
