Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase mosaicism: utilization as a cell marker in the study of leiomyomas.

The sex-linked electrophoretic variants A and B of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase were studied in 86 samples of myometrium and 27 leiomyomas from five heterozygous women. All but one sample of myometrium had both A and B bands in equal or nearly equal amounts. In contrast to this, all of the leiomyomas had either an A band or a B band. Both A and B tumors were found in all uteri. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that these tumors arose from single cells.