Human IMP dehydrogenase (E.C. 1.1.1.205) is recently regarded as a potent targeting enzyme for immunosuppressive drugs. Tissue differential expressions of human type I and type II IMP dehydrogenase were investigated in sixteen human adult organs (heart, brain, placenta, lung, liver, skeletal muscle, kidney, pancreas, spleen, thymus, prostate, testis, ovary, small intestine, colon, peripheral blood leukocytes) and five human fetal organs (heart, brain, lung, liver, kidney) using Northern blot analysis. In all tissues examined in this study, the sizes of mRNAs of each isoform were identical, respectively. The 2.3 kb type II mRNA was shown predominantly, and the 3.5 kb type I mRNA level was lower than type II in most human tissues examined. In contrast, type I IMPDH gene expressed higher than type II in peripheral blood leukocytes, uniquely. We also demonstrated that both type I and type II IMPDH genes are widely distributed among various species by Southern blot analysis. Interestingly, type I IMPDH gene may have multiple gene families in primates.