Deficiency of purine nucleoside phosphorylase activity in thymocytes from the immunodeficient diabetic BB rat

• Published in: Clinical and experimental immunology 1991-11, Vol.86 (2), p.260-265
• Main Authors: WU, G., MARLISS, E. B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adenosine deaminase; Adenosine Deaminase - metabolism; Animals; BB rats lymphopenia; Biological and medical sciences; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - enzymology; Experimental and animal immunopathology. Animal models; Immunopathology; Kinetics; Lymphoid Tissue - enzymology; Medical sciences; nucleoside; phosphorylase; purine; Purine-Nucleoside Phosphorylase - deficiency; Purine-Nucleoside Phosphorylase - metabolism; Rats; Rats, Inbred BB - metabolism; Streptozocin; thymus; Thymus Gland - enzymology
• ISSN: 0009-9104; 1365-2249
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1991.tb05807.x

SUMMARY The spontaneously diabetic BB (BBd) rat displays marked T lymphopenia. The present study was designed to investigate whether the immunodeficiency in this animal may be associated with deficiency of purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) and possibly adenosine deaminase (ADA). The activities of these two enzymes were measured in lymphoid and non‐lymphoid cells from both non‐diabetes‐prone (BBn) and BBd rats as well as from streptozotocin‐induced diabetic (STZ) BBn rats. There were no significant differences between BBn and BBd rats in ADA activities in thymocytes, skeletal muscle or brain. However, ADA activity was increased (P 0.01) by 50% in BBd mesenteric lymph node lymphocytes and splenocytes as compared with BBn cells, but was not altered in cells from STZ‐BBn rats. On the other hand, the PNP activity in BBd thymocytes was only 61% (P