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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Pamela Kearns, Professor Andrew Pearson, Dr Andrew Hall
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In order to test the hypothesis that glutathione (GSH) is an important determinant of treatment response in childhood acute leukaemia, blast cell GSH levels were studied in a cohort of children with acute lymphoblastic (ALL) and acute myeloid (AML) leukaemia. In both ALL and AML, several indicators of poor prognosis are well established but the underlying molecular mechanisms leading to resistant disease are still poorly understood. GSH is an intracellular thiol implicated in the development of cytotoxic drug resistance and appears to be involved in the control of cell proliferation and apoptosis. In this study, total GSH was measured in cryopreserved blasts from 62 childhood ALL and 13 AML patients. In ALL, high GSH levels were associated with a relatively poor prognosis. A positive correlation was demonstrated between the GSH level and presenting white cell count (WCC). GSH levels were significantly higher in T lineage ALL compared with B lineage and in AML blasts compared with ALL. These results are supportive of GSH as prognostic indicator in childhood leukaemia and may suggest one mechanism of treatment failure. They imply that it may be possible to improve chemosensitivity by the use of known modulators of GSH synthesis.
Author(s): Kearns PR, Pieters R, Rottier M, Veerman A, Schmiegalow K, Pearson ADJ, Hall AG
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
Year: 1999
Volume: 457
Pages: 211-216
Print publication date: 01/01/1999
ISSN (print): 0065-2598
ISSN (electronic):
PubMed id: 10500796
