Automation of the leukocyte adherence inhibition assay. Counting live mononuclear cells with an automated light...

Adaptation of an automated light microscope system to the leukocyte adherence inhibition assay provides a rapid automated assay of cell mediated immunity. Comparison between the numbers of live mononuclear cells counted by eye and by machine yields no statistical differences in the per cent adherence or in the standard errors when performing either 10 or 20 replicate counts per antigen-cell mixture. Using the cell counter in a semi-automated mode, the counting is performed 10 times as fast in comparison to the manual method. A semi-automated system is described. The procedure requires from 4-6 X 10(5) mononuclear cells and from 2-3 micrograms crude KCl extract using a standard hemocytometer. The value of the technique lies in its availability as a rapid assay for both research applications and immunologic monitoring in the clinical laboratory.