Methods and theory for analysis of flow of white cell subpopulations through micropore filters

Methods have been developed for analysing the resistance of WBC to flow, by measuring their transit rates through 5 and 8 microns pore filters at constant pressure. Unfractionated WBC and separated subpopulations have been compared. For either pore size, lymphocytes exhibited least resistance to flow, followed by granulocytes, with monocytes being most resistant. A theoretical model, which represents WBC suspensions as made up of three particle types (a relatively fast and a relatively slow population, plus a pore blocking population) adequately describes the data for flow rate versus volume filtered. For 5 microns pores, this theory indicates that a majority of WBC have transit times approximately less than 0.5 s. Unfractionated and mixed mononuclear samples contained a proportion of particles with transit times an order of magnitude longer, whereas, for granulocytes, no slow flowing population was evident. Removal of monocytes by plating out, reduced the proportion of the slow particles in the mononuclear preparation. Unique values for transit times could not be determined for 8 microns pores, but it could be concluded that the great majority of WBC made a very quick transit, with the flow becoming dominated by a small number of much more resistant cells. Simple flow parameters (initial relative flow rate and slow particle resistance) are described which characterize these two populations. Both 5 and 8 microns pore data indicated that few cells became permanently trapped within pores.