title: Quantitative determination of CD4/CD8 molecules by a cell marker ELISA.
abstract: Determination of percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection is usually done by flow cytometric analysis. We compared a cell marker ELISA with flow cytometry for quantitation of CD4 and CD8 molecules on T lymphocytes, and correlated the values both with the number of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes and with clinical data. Results by cell marker ELISA (y) correlated well with those by flow cytometric analysis (x); r = 0.69, P < 0.001 (y = 0.01x + 3.9) for CD4; r = 0.81, P < 0.001 (y = 0.03x + 5.4) for CD8; n = 343. The ELISA detected changes in numbers of CD8 molecules on the cells earlier than flow cytometry recognized changes in CD8+ T-cell counts. The advantages of the ELISA are the small sample volume required (0.5 mL of blood), its internal standardization by a CD4+/CD8+ cell line, and its simple and fast performance. The cell marker ELISA appears to be an efficient alternative to flow cytometry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Immunology, Medical School (Charité), Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Franke
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nugel
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Döcke
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Porstmann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004912:Erythrocytes; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D006461:Hemolysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016377:Organ Transplantation; D011786:Quality Control; D018805:Sepsis / Q000276:immunology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015704:CD4 Antigens; D016827:CD8 Antigens