RESUMEN
Forty-four individuals, 32 patients with acute leukemia [32 with ANLL and 7 with ALL] representing group and 12 subjects [8 healthy individuals were randomly selected as a control group and 4 with CLL]. From 8 healthy controls, purified granulocyte and monocyte preparations were isolated to identify the normal non-specific esterase isoe-lectric focusing [IEF] for each cell type. Four patients known to have CLL [3 with B-CLL and 1 with T - CLL] were chosen for preparation of B and T-lymphocytes and used as control lymphocyte pattern. To all patients complete hemogram, cytochemical stains for peripheral blood and bone marrow smears [myeloperoxidase, periodic acid shiff, specific and nonspecific esterases] were performed. Identification of nonspecific esterase isoenzyme pattern for each cytologic type of leukemia using isoelectric focusing of anaphthyl acetate esterase on polyacry-lamide gel [PAG] was also done. Our results showed that nonspecific esterase zymograms identified consistent and distinctive isoenzymatic patterns that were characteristic for each type of leukemia. This work showed that despite different isoenzyme patterns displayed by ALL zymograms, they were easily distinct from ANLL zymograms. Moreover, our results provided further evidence for the herte-rogeneity of ANAE in AML and AMML and that NaF inhibition of ANAE reactions have little diagnostic application in the assessment of monocytic involvement. Conversely, the use of NaF with IEF was found to be essential in the differentiation between various types of leukemia