Red blood cell adenine nucleotides abnormalities in Down syndrome

The red blood cell adenine nucleotides of 20 Down Syndrome patients and 20 healthy controls were determined by a new high-performance liquid chromatography method. All patients showed increased concentrations of adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP) and adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP), while adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP+) were within normal ranges. This alternation of the energetic charge could be partly responsible for the impairment of glucose metabolism in these patients.