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Updated: Jul 16, 2026
Isolation and Activation of Murine Lymphocytes
Published on: October 30, 2016
Comparison of two proliferation assays MTT and ltt in immunodeficient patients
Anna Isaian1, Zahra Pourpak, Laleh Nikfarjam
1Department of Immunology and Allergy, Children Medical Center, Thhran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Insights
The MTT assay offers a sensitive, non-radioactive method for quantifying cell proliferation, showing high correlation with the LTT assay in immunodeficient patients. This makes MTT a preferable choice for cell viability assessment.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Cell proliferation assays are crucial for assessing immune function.
- The MTT assay provides a non-radioactive method for quantifying cell growth and viability.
- Comparing the sensitivity of MTT and lymphocyte transformation test (LTT) is important for immunodeficient patient evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the sensitivity of the MTT assay and the LTT assay in evaluating lymphocyte proliferation.
- To assess the utility of the MTT assay as a non-radioactive alternative for cell proliferation studies in immunodeficient individuals.
Main Methods:
- The study involved 20 immunodeficient patients and 20 healthy controls with normal lymphocyte counts and CD3 levels.
- Lymphocytes were stimulated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) as a mitogen.
- Cell proliferation was evaluated using both the MTT assay and the LTT assay.
Main Results:
- Both MTT and LTT assays demonstrated a strong correlation in measuring lymphocyte proliferation between immunodeficient patients and healthy controls.
- The sensitivity of the MTT assay was found to be 90%, while the LTT assay showed a sensitivity of 98%.
- MTT assay is a reliable non-radioactive method for cell proliferation evaluation.
Conclusions:
- The MTT assay is a sensitive and reliable method for assessing cell proliferation, comparable to the LTT assay.
- MTT assay offers a safe, fast, and accurate alternative to LTT for evaluating cell proliferation, particularly in clinical settings involving immunodeficient patients.
Abstract:
MTT assay is designed for spectrophotometric quantification of cell growth and viability without using the radiactive isotopes. The aim of this study is comparison of LIT and MTT as sensitive poliferation assays in imrnunodeficient patients. 20 immunodeficient and 20 healthy subjects were selected in this study. All of them had normal lymphocytes count, normal CD3 and negative DIR reaction to PPD, DT and candida. The immunodeficient patients regularly suffered from herpes, candida and staph abscess. The lymphocytes of inimunodeficient control groups were treated with PHA as mitogen. The lymphocyte proliferation was evaluated by MTT and LTT. The results showed a strong correlation between LTT and MITT between immunodeficient patients and healthy controls. The sensitivity test for MTT was 90%, and the sensitivity test for LTT was 98%. MTT method can be considered as a non-radiactive evaluation of cell proliferation. Detecting cell proliferation with accurate, sensitive, fast, easy and safe method is more preferable than LTT.
