Low cost CD4 enumeration using generic monoclonal antibody reagents and a two-color user-defined MultiSET (TM) protocol

摘要

Background: The standard three-tube, three-color flow cytometric method utilizing the TriTEST (TM) reagents in conjunction with the MultiSET (TM) Software commonly used in most laboratories in Thailand for CD4 enumeration is expensive and thus unavailable to most HIV-infected patients. A more affordable method, i.e., the PanLeucogating protocol using only two monoclonal antibody reagents, has been described but requires the use of the CellQUEST (TM) software that does not have automatic gating and reporting facilities. We describe a simple protocol that utilizes a two-color user-defined protocol with the automated MultiSET (TM) software for the acquisition, analysis, and reporting of CD4 results.