A number of infants with an autosomal recessive form of combined immunodeficiency disease also lack adenosine deaminase (adenosine aminohydrolase; EC 3.5.4.4) activity in their erythrocytes. Other tissues from these infants contain only a few percent of the adenosine-deaminating activity present in corresponding normal tissue. The residual adenosine-deaminating activity in extracts from the spleen of a combined immunodeficient, adenosine deaminase-deficient patient was compared with adenosine deaminase from normal spleen. Affinity and immunoadsorbant column chromatography revealed distinct differences between the adenosine-deaminating activity in the patient's spleen and adenosine deaminase from normal spleen. The point of maximum activity and general configuration of the pH optimum curves were also different. erythro-9-(2-Hydroxyl-3-nonyl)adenine, a potent inhibitor of adenosine deaminase from normal spleen, had relatively little effect on the activity from the patient's spleen. In contrast, adenine was a better inhibitor of the activity in the patient's spleen than it was of the enzyme from normal tissue. An adenosine-deaminating activity with the same characteristics and specific activity as that in the patient's spleen was also isolated from normal spleen. These results suggest that the adenosine-deaminating activity in the spleen of this patient is not due to a mutant form of adenosine deaminase.