GLYCOGEN CONTENT OF ISOLATED WHITE BLOOD CELLS IN GLYCOGEN STORAGE DISEASE

GLYCOGEN storage disease (von Gierke's disease) is a rare condition in childhood, and little is known about its pathologic chemistry. In a recent study on 2 cases of glycogen storage disease Bridge and Holt¹called attention to the glycogen content of whole blood. The occurrence of an increase in the level of glycogen in the blood had been reported by previous investigators.²Bridge and Holt identified the polysaccharid present in blood of glycogen storage disease as glycogen by its chemical properties. Since 97 per cent of the total glycogen has been found in the blood cells, they calculated from whole blood glycogen a concentration of from 6 to 10 per cent of this carbohydrate in the white blood cells. The assumption was made that all the glycogen is concentrated in the leukocytes with none in the erythrocytes. The present study deals with direct glycogen determinations on isolated white