Blood, 1959, Vol. 14, No. 8, pp. 935-949.
© 1959 American Society of Hematology, Inc.
Studies of the Rate of Production and Life Span of
Erythrocytes in Acute Leukemia
DAVID G. NATHAN 1 and
NATHANIEL I. BERLIN 1
1 Metabolism Service, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health,
U.S.P.H.S., Bethesda, Md.
The rate of red cell formation and the red cell life span were determined
in six adult patients with acute myelogenous leukemia by the use of Fe59,
Cr51 and glycine-2-C14. One patient with acute monocytic leukemia was
studied with Fe59 alone.
Erythropoiesis was normal or increased in two patients, deficient in four
patients and absent in one. The data indicate that in the cases of deficient
erythropoiesis a decreased number of red cells were produced in the marrow, but that they were released at a rapid rate.
The red cell life span appeared to be normal in one patient, short but finite
in four patients, and short owing to random destruction in one patient. One
study did not include the measurement of red cell life span.
The liver removed an abnormally large proportion of the plasma iron when
marrow erythropoiesis was deficient.
The bone marrow examination may be an unreliable indicator of the rate
of erythropoiesis.
Submitted on August 7, 1958
Accepted on February 21, 1959
