RAPID ISOLATION OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELLS FROM WHOLE BLOOD WITH FICOLL HYPAQUE DENSITY CENTRIFUGATION

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells are widely used in research as well as in clinical applications and also a useful tool for studying in-vitro various aspects of pathology and biology. PBMCs contain several types of cells such as lymphocytes, monocytes or macrophages that are a necessary component in the immune system to fight infections and pathogens. PBMCs are also important tools for studies in new drugs toxicity analysis which provides the toxicity potential of new compounds on human’s immune system. Affects of drug toxicity on PBMCs causes various serious toxic adverse effects, including suppression and toxicity of immune system. Therefore, Ficoll-hypaque density centrifugation method was used to isolate PBMCs from fresh blood with slight modifications which are more rapid and economical for research studies. In addition, PBMCs cryopreserved immediately after isolation or further stimulated with 2 µg ConA followed by cryopreservation.