Electrophoretic mobility of blood lymphocytes stored at -196 degrees

To determine the influence of low temperature (-196 degrees C) during preservation upon the electrophoretic mobility (EM) of lymphocytes ten healthy donors were examined. Lymphocytes were isolated from venous blood by Ficoll-Uropolinum (Polfa) density gradient centrifugation and iron powder technique was used to eliminate macrophages. EM of lymphocytes was analyzed on Parmoquant 2 computer system (Carl-Zeiss, Jena) before and ten days after cryopreservation. There was no significant difference between the mean EM before freezing (1.046 um.sec-1.v-1.cm) and after it (1.034 um.sec.-1v-1 cm). No significant changes in histograms showing slow (lymphocytes B) and fast (lymphocytes T) fractions were observed. It indicates, that cryopreservation does not change EM of lymphocytes and thus can be used in situations, when immediate examination cannot be done.