Abstract
A micro assay system for measuring interleukin 2 (IL2)-responsiveness by allergen-stimulated lymphocytes was developed for detecting causative allergen in children with atopic dermatitis and/or bronchial asthma using a 60 well micro Terasaki plate and propidium iodide (PI) staining. There was a linear correlation between the number of PI-stained cells (2×103-6×104) and the fluorescence intensity, indicating that this fluorochromasia assay reflects cell number for the quantitative measurement of lymphocyte proliferation even in a extremely small number of cells. The background was less than 10 percent.
The induced response was observed in lymphocytes from patients with urticaria, atopic dermatitis, and bronchial asthma specifically on stimulation with the antigen causing clinical symptoms. The results obtained by the 60 well micro Terasaki plate were much similar to those in previous reports measured using a 96 well micro plate and PI staining. The present micro-method appears possible to decrease cell number used by approximately one tenth, for screening etiological antigens for the diseases and to easily monitor the clinical activity.
