Mononuclear cells migration inhibition and delayed hypersensitivity in man.

The migration inhibition by soluble PPD of peripheral blood mononuclear cells showed a much better reflection of delayed hypersentitivity to tuberculin in man than the migration inhibition of buffy coat cells. The migration index (MI) with mononuclear cells in a group of tuberculin positive subjects was 0.51 +/- 0.14 (mean +/- S.D.) (n = 20) and that of a group of tuberculin negative subjects was 0.89 +/- 0.11 (n = 14) (P less than 0.001). Using buffy coat cells the MI was 0.65 +/- 0.26 (n = 19) for a group of tuberculin positive subjects and 0.76 +/- 0.24 (n = 10) for the group of tuberculin negative subjects. They were not significantly different (P greater than 0.05). The mononuclear cells migration inhibition was also quite reproducible from day to day.