[Leukocyte aggregation test for assessing cell-mediated immunity: its use in drug allergy (author's transl)]

The author has designed a new quantitative leucocyte aggregation test a measure cell-mediated immunity in man. The test involves continuous recording of light absorbance by stirred leucocyte suspensions. Potentially, measurement of direct leucocyte aggregation offers considerable advantages in terms of sensitivity, reproducibility and simplicity of execution. The technique was initially developed in animals and made it possible to assay very small amounts of lymphokines. The results obtained in man with antigenic drugs, such as penicillin, confirm that the aggregation test is much more sensitive than the migration inhibition test. Its precise significance remains uncertain, but it already promises to constitute a simple and highly reliable means of diagnosing and preventing drug hypersensitivity.