Trisomy 8 in the bone marrow associated with high red cell glutathione reductase activity

In a series of 841 patients with hematologic disorders, 10 individuals were found to have an extra C group chromosome in their bone marrow cells. In two the extra chromosome was not identified, but in the remaining eight it was No. 8. Four of these ten patients had leukemia, and the others had cytopenias or other probably preleukemic conditions. The mean value for glutathione reductase activity in the red cells of four patients with trisomy 8 was significantly higher (2980 +/- 940 mumoles/min/liter of erythrocytes) than in normal controls (1930 +/- 360) or in any of five different control groups of patients with hematologic disorders. The extent of enzyme activation as a result of preincubation with exogenous flavin adenine dinucleotide was similar in the erythrocytes of all groups. The reasons for the high values of red cell glutathione reductase activity in patients with trisomy 8 are discussed in the light of the proposed assignment of the gene for that enzyme to chromosome 8.