FLOW CYTOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF CSF CELLS

Flow cytometry is an established method to study subpopulations of cel ls in suspensions. Immunostaining with fluorescein or phycoerythrin-la belled monoclonal antibodies allows simultaneous and reproducible quan tification of up to four parameters: cell size, cell granularity and, depending on the monoclonal antibodies bound, two cell surface propert ies. In recent years, this method had been successfully applied to flu ids containing large numbers of cells such as blood. We adapted this m ethod to the special properties of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), whic h contains only small amounts of highly vulnerable cells. The normal r ange of functionally distinct subsets of lymphocytes of the CSF and th eir alterations in inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system were determined. The method is also able to detect malignant cells in the CSF.