Abstract:The effects of different deoxyuridine (dU) concentrations on lymphocytes stimulated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) were studied for use in a lymphocyte dU suppression test (L‐dUST). High concentrations of dU were necessary to overcome the unspecific spontaneous pattern of folate deficiency, dU suppression tests with cells of bone marrow (BM‐dUST) and with lymphocytes were carried out in 15 patients with vitamin B‐12 deficiency, in 12 with folate deficiency, and in 10 with other pathological conditions. L‐dUST was also carried out in 15 healthy reference controls. The BM‐dUST was able to distinguish patients with vitamin B‐12 or folate acid deficiencies from those without, while the L‐dUST was unable to do so in most cases. L‐dUST does not, therefore, appear to be a reliable method for the diagnosis of megalo
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