CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID CONCENTRATIONS OF NITRATE PLUS NITRITE DURING THETREATMENT OF ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC-LEUKEMIA IN CHILDHOOD

To investigate the hypothesis that acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.(ALL) and its treatment disturb central nervous system nitric oxide metabol ism, 11 patients were studied. Serial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample s were collected throughout treatment and the concentration of nitrate plus nitrite (NOx) was measured. Compared to an age-matched reference population, CSF NOx was significantly increased before treatment and rose further during the induction phase of treatment. Concentrations r emained high during consolidation treatment, but fell during continuin g treatment and normalised by the end of treatment. In conclusion, ALL and its treatment cause an increase in central nervous system nitric oxide production. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.