| Abstract: | Blood from normal donors and from heterozy-gotes for adenine phosphoribosyltransferase was stored in ACD, ACD-adenine, and ACD-adenine-phosphate media. The levels of AMP, ADP and ATP along with the enzymes involved in adenine nucleotide metabolism; adenine phosphoribosyl-transferase, ribose-5-P pyrophosphokinase and AMP-deaminase, were determined at various stages of blood storage in various media. One of the heterozygotes for adenine phosphoribosyltransferase maintained ATP levels poorly in all the media, but another heterozygote maintained ATP levels in a normal fashion. No significant correlation was established between the activities of various enzymes of adenine nucleotide metabolism and the levels of adenine nucleotides at any stage of blood storage in any medium studied. A population survey showed that the frequency of adenine phosphoribosyltransferase deficiency is of the order of 1 per cent. The heterozygote defect is not accompanied by any obvious abnormalities. |
