A DETAILED PROTOCOL FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF TGF-BETA-1 IN HUMAN BLOOD-SAMPLES

Quantification of the multifunctional cytokine Transforming Growth Fac tor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) in blood samples has aroused increasing intere st in recent years, since an abnormal regulation of this cytokine appe ars to play a key role in the pathogenesis of different diseases; such as autoimmundiseases or malignant tumors. The measurement of TGF-beta 1 is complicated by a lot of problems concerning the collection, prep aration and handling of blood samples, the platelet contamination, and the TGF-beta 1 activation procedure. Here, we recommend detailed inst ructions for measurement of TGF-beta 1 in blood plasma samples which s hould be followed to exclude the determination of false positive or ne gative results. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.