The analysis of the red cell unsaturated fatty acid test for multiple sclerosis using laser cytopherometry.

Using a laser cytopherometer, the electrophoretic mobility of glutaraldehyde-fixed erythrocytes from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been compared with that of cells from control subjects. The effect of incubating cells with different concentrations of linoleic acid (LA) has been tested. At a concentration of 20 micrograms LA per 2 x 10(7) cells, slower mobilities were observed, on average, than those of control subjects, but there was overlap between control and patient groups. At a higher concentration of LA (160 micrograms per 2 x 10(7) cells), many of the MS samples showed a slower mobility than the control samples, although overlap was still evident. The value of the application of laser cytopherometry compared with conventional cytopherometry to this type of test is discussed.