[A method of determining allergic changes in leukocytes]

The new technique for the detection of hypersensitivity to allergens is based on the fact that after 2 hrs incubation of citrate blood with the allergen the leukocytes are destroyed and K ions leave the cell. Potassium level in the supernatant is measured by flame photometry. This method has been tried in examinations of 81 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and aspergillosis and 18 healthy donors. The method has proved to be specific and informative for the detection of tuberculin and fungal allergy. It is less labor-consuming than the determination of the neutrophil injury index and more objective, since its results are recorded instrumentally.