Integrated System Monitors T-Lymphocytes in Children

A two-color, direct, absolute counting approach monitors patients' T-lymphocytes.

Absolute CD4 counts in children undergo variation with age and development, so additional parameters are needed to monitor progression of pediatric patients' human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. An accepted indicator for this patient population is CD4 percentage, which is CD4 absolute counts expressed as a percentage of total lymphocytes.

The novel Guava Technologies (Hayward, CA, USA) EasyCD4% assay provides both absolute CD4 and CD4% values with the same simplicity of protocol and ease-of-use as the internationally adopted Guava EasyCD4 and EasyCD8 assays. The Guava EasyCD4 system and EasyCD4% assay represent an optimized, integrated system of reagents, software, and instrumentation.

The Guava EasyCD4 System, with its integrated system of instrument, reagents, and software, provides the ability to easily monitor patients T-lymphocytes. A controlled independent five-site evaluation study demonstrated that accurate and precise CD-4 T-cell counts, equivalent to traditional methods of T-cell enumeration, can be obtained much more affordably using the Guava EasyCD4 system.

Guava Technologies' microcapillary cytometry technology enables the instrument to be highly compact, portable, and low maintenance. Performance of the Guava assays is simple, with even novice users learning to use the EasyCD4% method in just a day or two. Testing requires only 10 µl of whole blood per patient, making the method suitable for use in pediatric as well as adult patients. The assay also requires far less reagent per sample than other testing methods, dramatically lowering the overall costs of performing the assay.

The system does not require the large amounts of sheath fluid buffered water that are required by conventional flow cytometers. The elimination of the use of sheath fluid also results in less bio-hazardous waste and further reduces the running costs of using the system. Daily maintenance is minimal--just a fast and easy five minute clean and shutdown procedure performed at the end of each day.

The ability to cost-effectively monitor disease progression in remote parts of the world, as well as provide adequate treatment, is an essential requirement for battling the disease. Monitoring patients' T-lymphocyte cell counts and various sub-populations are standard indicators of when to begin treatment for opportunistic infections, initiate antiretroviral therapy, and monitor disease progression.


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