Characterization of leukemic and normal white blood cells by Curie-point pyrolysis—mass spectrometry: I. Numerical evaluation of the results of a pilot study

Abstract

A preliminary study was undertaken to determine the usefulness of Curie-point pyrolysis—mass spectrometry followed by computer analysis for character diseased white blood cells. White blood cells from normal, infected, polyeyrhemic and leukemic persons were pyrolyzed in front of the electron impact ion source of a quadrupole mass spectrometer on 510°C and 355°C Curie-point filaments. Visual inspection and computer assisted pattern analysis using the ARTHUR program revealed marked differences in the spectra among the different diagnostic categories. The 510°C pyrolysis—mass spectra from leukemic patients were found to have increased intensity at mass peaks related to RNA and DNA as well as decreased intensity at mass peaks related to choline containing phospholipids when compared to controls. The spectra from the polyeyrhemic patient and the two infected patients were found to have intermediate intensities for these two characteristic series. Pyrolysis at 355°C was found to enhance the differences seen in the 510°C pyrolysis spectra. Though the number of patients is too small to allow rigorous statistical analysis of the observed differences, numerical analysis of the spectra appears to hint at the possibility of using Curie-point pyrolysis—mass spectrometry as a diagnostic tool in discriminating different types of leukemias. An investigation with many more samples is needed to confirm these preliminary findings.