Improved detection of HLA-Cw5 and Cw7 by two colour fluorescence technique

Reactivity of two Cw5 and three Cw7 antisera was compared in the standard NIH and the Two Colour Fluorescence (TCF) techniques. Contrary to the NIH, the TCF method yielded strong positive reactions which enabled clear assignment of the Cw5 and Cw7 specificities. The TCF technique combines three factors that increase the sensitivity of serum reactions: 1. typing on B lymphocytes, 2. prolonged incubation and 3. staining of the lysed cells with ethidium bromide.