Plasma purine nucleoside phosphorylase in cancer patients

Clin Chim Acta. 2004 Jun;344(1-2):109-14. doi: 10.1016/j.cccn.2004.02.008.

Abstract

Background: Purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) is the purine salvage enzyme that converts guanosine to guanine and inosine to hypoxanthine.

Methods: 279 samples from patients with differing cancers were collected during treatment at both pre- and post-dose stages for plasma PNP activity and compared with a normal population.

Results: Normal plasma PNP activity was found to be 3.2+/-1.4 U/l (n=55) as compared with the cancer patients (pre-dose 12.3+/-7.4 U/l [n=215] and post-dose 11.2+/-5.9 U/l [n=64]). Levels of plasma PNP did not differ greatly between the different cancer types but were on average four times greater than that found in the reference population.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Humans
  • Neoplasms / blood
  • Neoplasms / enzymology*
  • Purine-Nucleoside Phosphorylase / blood*
  • Purine-Nucleoside Phosphorylase / drug effects*
  • Purine-Nucleoside Phosphorylase / standards
  • Reference Values

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Purine-Nucleoside Phosphorylase