Electrophoretic mobility of lymphocytes in neonates with cleft lip/palate and neural tube defect: a pilot study

This study examined the surface charge of lymphocytes in newborns with fusion-type defects. Significant difference was found in the electrophoretic mobility of cells between normal controls (0.89 +/- 0.02) and neonates with cleft lip/palate (1.01 +/- 0.02; P less than 0.01) or neural tube defect (0.99 +/- 0.02; P less than 0.02). The cell frequency/mobility histograms revealed unimodal distribution for controls, but bimodal distribution for malformed infants of both types. It is suggested that alterations in the genetically determined cell surface charge properties might play an important role in fusion-type defects.