The supernatants of human peripheral blood lymphocytes stimulated with antigen and non specific mitogen influence electrophoretic mobility of sheep erythrocytes as indicator cells of lymphocyte sensitization. This test system has been used for application to clinical immunology.
Lymphocytes from human peripheral blood were obtained by centrifugation in Ficoll-Conray method. Then separation of T and non T lymphocytes was performed by the ordinary E-rosetting technique. Separated T and non T lymphocyte fractions were incubated with PHA, Con A and DNA obtained from calf thymus. To cultured supernatants the tanned sheep erythrocytes were added, and electrophoretic mobility of the sheep erythrocytes was measured in an analytical cell microelectrophoretic apparatus.
In the supernatant from normal T lymphocytes stimulated with PHA and Con A, decrease of electrophoretic mobility of the sheep erythrocytes was more remarkable than in that from normal non T lymphocytes. In the supernatants of the lymphocyte subpopulation from patients with SLE stimulated with Con A, delay of electrophoretic mobility of the sheep erythrocyte was observed in non T lymphocytes. When the lymphocytes from the patients with SLE were stimulated with DNA, electrophoretic mobility of the sheep erythrocyte showed change in the supernatants from T lymphocyte culture.
