Concentration & Viability of PBMCs without Lysing

Importance of Accurate PBMC
Counts

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells are routinely
used to measure immunological function through
assays for cell proliferation, cytotoxicity, and
cytokine expression. The use of cryopreserved
PBMCs is necessary in clinical trials involving many
patient samples collected over a period of time and
even smaller research studies involving multiple
time-points.

Ficoll separation is routinely used to isolate
mononuclear cells from bone marrow, peripheral
blood, and umbilical cord blood. Monocytes and
lymphocytes form a buffy coat under a layer of
plasma, where the cells are collected and washed.
Typically, some residual platelets or red blood cells
are mixed in with the mononuclear cells, which
cause the separation quality to vary depending
upon the patient sample and the operator.
Accurate PBMC cell concentration and viability data
should be considered when evaluating results for
functional assays. All samples should be evaluated
and viability thresholds should be used in clinical
trials in order to obtain reliable results.