Flow cytometry assessment of leukocyte functions in vascular pathologies

Intravascular activation of leukocytes has been shown to be involved in a wide range of different and apparently unrelated clinical situations, such as systemic inflammatory response syndrome, ischemia/reperfusion, disseminated intravascular coagulation, atherosclerosis... All of them involve to different degrees many steps of the inflammation process, with leukocyte accumulation and release of toxic species. Haemostasis, leukocyte functions and their cross-talk are summarized in this paper, as well as the most popular methods used for studying leukocyte functions in vascular pathologies. The strengths and present limitations of flow cytometry are analyzed in comparison with the biochemical and functional approaches.