Triple immunofluorescence flow cytometry, using whole blood, of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes expressing CD45RO and CD45RA.

New fluorescent monoclonal antibody-dye conjugates permit three-color immunofluorescence analysis of leukocytes in whole blood using a single laser flow cytometer. The fluorochrome used in this study is a tandem conjugate of phycoerythrin (PE) and Cyan-5, which is excitable at 488 nm with a maximum in the emission spectrum at > 650 nm and it can be used together with PE and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). The directly labelled monoclonal antibodies are incubated with unseparated anticoagulated blood and subsequently erythrocytes are lysed by a standardized automated procedure. The resulting leukocyte suspension can then be analyzed for three different surface markers in an individual sample of 100 microliters blood. When compared simultaneously with single-color analysis triple-color immunofluorescence yielded identical quantitative and qualitative results on various lymphocyte subpopulations. The efficacy of this method was evaluated by analyzing leukocytes of 42 healthy donors for the following markers: CD3, CD4, CD8, CD14, CD16, CD19, CD25, CD38, CD45RO, CD45RA, CD56, CD57, TCR-gamma/delta and HLA-DR. Of special interest was the finding that CD45RA and CD45RO are differently expressed in CD4 and CD8 cells. The reliability and convenience of this three-color analysis will make it possible to do more sophisticated examinations of subpopulations and their relevance in the monitoring of autoimmune diseases, immunodeficiency syndromes including AIDS and malignant disorders such as leukemias.