(3H)ouabain binding to leukaemic cells and intralymphocytic sodium content in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia; no evidence for alterations of the Na+/K+-pump.

The number of specific (3H)ouabain binding sites and dissociation constants (Kd) were determined by Scatchard analysis of values for leucocytes from patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), acute blastic leukaemia (AL) and healthy subjects. CLL lymphocytes and normal B-cells bound significantly less (3H)ouabain than did normal T-lymphocytes. CML granulocytes showed the same binding characteristics as normal granulocytes, while blast cells from AL patients bound significantly more (3H)ouabain than did normal granulocytes or B-cells. The increased binding capacity in blast cells might, at least partly, reflect their larger cell size. A decrease in Kd values was only found in CLL lymphocytes, as compared with normal B-cells. Intralymphocytic sodium content in CLL lymphocytes was significantly increased, as compared with that in T-cell-enriched normal lymphocytes. (3H)ouabain binding did not show any relationship to different prognostic variables in CLL. The present data mainly argue against altered Na+/K+-ATPase enzyme activity as an indicator of malignancy.