B-lymphocyte typing (HLA-DR, MT, MB) interlaboratory reproducibility.

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Genetics

Background:

• Accurate B-lymphocyte typing is crucial for immunological studies and clinical applications.
• Standardization of B-lymphocyte typing methods across laboratories is essential for reliable data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of interlaboratory B-lymphocyte typing using frozen cells.
• To assess the error rates associated with HLA-DR and other antigen typing.

Main Methods:

• Frozen lymphocytes from six donors were distributed to 11 laboratories.
• Laboratories employed various methods including two-color fluorescence, nylon wool isolation, and cytotoxicity testing.
• Reference antigen assignments were established by consensus, with deviations considered errors.

Main Results:

• An overall error rate of 17.9% was observed for HLA-DR typing across 67 typings.
• Six out of 12 laboratories achieved perfect agreement with no errors.
• Typing for MT antigens showed low reliability, while MB antigen assignments demonstrated good interlaboratory correlation.

Conclusions:

• Cell exchange for B-lymphocyte typing is feasible across geographic areas.
• The error rate for HLA-DR typing is approximately three times higher than for HLA-AB typing.
• Cell viability and storage duration may significantly impact typing accuracy.