AFRO-NETS> Use of dried whole blood spots to measure CD4+ lymphocyte counts

[Dr Rana Jawad Asghar <jawad@alumni.washington.edu>]

Use of dried whole blood spots to measure CD4+ lymphocyte counts
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Use of dried whole blood spots to measure CD4+ lymphocyte counts 
in HIV-1-infected patients
 
Peter Mwaba, Sharon Cassol, Rick Pilon, Chifumbe Chintu, Michelle 
Janes, Andrew Nunn, Alimuddin Zumla
 
Lancet 2003; 362: 1459-60
http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol362/iss9394/full/llan.362.9394.original_research.27646.1
 
As antiretroviral drugs become widely available in developing 
countries, practical, field-friendly, and cheap methods of meas-
uring CD4+ lymphocyte counts need to be developed. We tested use 
of whole blood spots dried on filter paper to measure CD4+ lym-
phocyte counts. We obtained blood from 42 HIV-1-infected patients 
from Zambia. We dried blood spots on filter paper and measured 
CD4+ lymphocyte counts with an established commercial enzyme im-
munoassay. We compared these measurements with those obtained 
from matched liquid whole-blood samples analysed with standard 
flow cytometry. Results of the filter-paper method accorded well 
with flow cytometry CD4 counts greater than 200 cells/µL (mean 
difference 13·6 [SD 52·4]). Dried whole blood stored on filter 
paper could be developed into a field-friendly alternative for 
CD4+ lymphocyte count measurements.
 
 
--
Dr Rana Jawad Asghar
mailto:jawad@alumni.washington.edu

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