CD4 T‐lymphocyte determinations on whole blood specimens using a single‐tube three‐color assay

Abstract

We evaluated a flow cytometric method for determining the proportion of CD4-positive T lymphocytes in whole blood using a single three-color tube containing fluorochrome-labeled CD45, CD3, and CD4. Various ways of gating this sample were evaluated and results were compared with data obtained in our standard six-tube, two-color assay gated on light scatter parameters. Excellent correlation was found between the three-color analysis using a CD45/side scatter gate and the standard two-color analysis with a light scatter gate. This single-tube three-color test is a promising assay for monitoring CD4+ T-lymphocytes.