[Purine nucleoside phosphorylase activity in T-enriched preparations of human peripheral lymphocytes]

Purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) activity was measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and in T-enriched populations from 6 normal subjects. PNP activity in T-enriched populations were in average 50% of that in unseparated mononuclear cells. In our cell preparations, T-cells appeared to contribute to 27-49% of total biochemical PNP levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. T-lymphocytes obtained by rosetting with sheep red blood cells could be a suitable cell population for determining PNP activity in patients with immune disfunction.