Influence of perinatal hypoxia on purine contents in erythrocytes of newborn infants.

Alterations in the levels of hypoxanthine and some other purine derivatives occurring in the erythrocytes from umbilical cord blood of newborn infants with perinatal hypoxia were examined. Newborn babies were divided into two groups which included infants with favourable (Group 1) and complicated (Group 2) periods of early adaptation. Purine metabolites of erythrocytes were analyzed by isocratic reversed-phase HPLC. It was shown a reciprocal relation between concentrations of hypoxanthine and IMP in erythrocytes of infants from two groups that was expressed in elevation (Group 1) and a fall (Group 2) of hypoxanthine level while in Group 1 the IMP content had a tendency to decrease and Group 2 was characterized by an elevated level of this compound. The alterations in the concentrations of these interrelated metabolites may be due to the effects of hypoxia upon purine metabolism in erythrocytes.