Carella A V, Moss M W, Provost V, Quinn T C
Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 1995 Sep;2(5):623-5. doi: 10.1128/cdli.2.5.623-625.1995.
CD4+ T lymphocytes are currently the most common surrogate marker indicating disease progression in individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Since the cost of enumerating lymphocyte phenotypes is quite high, an inexpensive bead assay analyzed by light microscopy (cytosphere assay; Coulter Corporation, Hialeah, Fla.) was developed as an alternative method for counting CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. To evaluate the reliability of the cytosphere assay, heparinized blood was collected from 117 HIV-infected individuals and tested for both CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes by flow cytometry and the cytosphere assay. The Pearson correlation coefficient of the cytosphere assay compared with that of flow cytometry for CD4+ T lymphocytes was 0.93, with mean values +/- standard deviations of 534 +/- 509 by flow cytometry and 499 +/- 477 by the cytosphere assay. The correlation coefficient for CD8+ T lymphocytes was 0.86, with mean values of 831 +/- 543 by flow cytometry and 746 +/- 472 by the cytosphere assay. The sensitivity and specificity of the cytosphere assay in determining absolute CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts of less than 200/microliters were 97.6 and 94.7%, respectively. The positive predictive value was 90.9%, and the negative predictive value was 98.6%. The cytosphere assay was highly correlative to flow cytometry in determining CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocyte counts among HIV-infected patients. The ease and limited resources needed to perform this test make it ideal in developing countries and other areas where technology and finances are limited.
CD4+ T淋巴细胞是目前用于指示感染人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）个体疾病进展的最常见替代标志物。由于淋巴细胞表型计数成本相当高，因此开发了一种通过光学显微镜分析的廉价微珠检测法（细胞球检测法；库尔特公司，佛罗里达州希亚莱）作为计数CD4+和CD8+ T淋巴细胞的替代方法。为了评估细胞球检测法的可靠性，从117名HIV感染个体中采集了肝素化血液，并通过流式细胞术和细胞球检测法对CD4+和CD8+淋巴细胞进行检测。细胞球检测法与流式细胞术检测CD4+ T淋巴细胞的Pearson相关系数为0.93，流式细胞术的平均值±标准差为534±509，细胞球检测法为499±477。CD8+ T淋巴细胞的相关系数为0.86，流式细胞术的平均值为831±543，细胞球检测法为746±472。细胞球检测法在确定绝对CD4+ T淋巴细胞计数小于200/微升时的敏感性和特异性分别为97.6%和94.7%。阳性预测值为90.9%，阴性预测值为98.6%。在确定HIV感染患者的CD4+和CD8+ T淋巴细胞计数方面，细胞球检测法与流式细胞术高度相关。进行该检测所需的简便性和有限资源使其在技术和资金有限的发展中国家和其他地区成为理想选择。
