The Periodic Acid-Schiff Reaction in Neutrophil Leukocytes in Untreated and Myleran-Treated Chronic Myelocytic Leukemia: A Quantitative Microspectrophotometric Study

Microspectrophotometric quantification of the periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)reaction has been performed in about 3,000 individual mature neutrophilleukocytes from 20 normal subjects and 23 patients with chronic myelocyticleukemia (CML), of whom 10 were untreated or in relapse and 13 in partialremission or remission.

The PAS reaction was taken as a quantitative measure of the cellularamount of PAS reactive material (PASMa), most probably equivalent toglycogen. The mean amount of PASMa in neutrophils from untreated andrelapse cases of CML was 43 per cent less than in normal neutrophils. Thefrequency distribution of PASMa per cell was normal in individual cases.In clinical remission after Myleran treatment, the neutrophils contained normalamounts of PASMa.

Submitted on November 1, 1965 Accepted on February 6, 1966