Immunophenotyping is a diagnostic procedure that labels white blood cells with antibodies to identify diseases such as leukemia. It can be performed on bone marrow and spinal fluid and is useful for testing white blood cells. Diseases that can be diagnosed through immunophenotyping include leukemia, arganulocytosis, leukopenia, and infectious mononucleosis.
Immunophenotyping refers to a way that a doctor can examine the protein expressed by cells in the human body. Typically, this procedure is performed during laboratory diagnostics and basic scientific research. For example, doctors may use this technique to diagnose leukemia in a patient. Although the human body has more than 300 clusters of differentiation, immunophenotyping is useful for testing white blood cells.
A cluster of differentiation (CD) is a protocol used by physicians to study cell surface molecules on white blood cells in the human body. The molecules of a CD work in various ways; usually it acts as a receptor or a ligand, which is what activates a receptor, but this is not always the case. Other CD molecules could function as cell adhesion, which bonds a cell to a surface.
Specifically, immunophenotyping involves labeling human white blood cells with certain antibodies adjacent to the surface protein, which is found on the cell membrane. Depending on the antibodies a doctor places on the surface, this procedure can accurately identify which cells are leukemia. The labeled cells are then placed into a flow cytometer, an instrument capable of analyzing thousands of cells per second. In addition to cells, doctors can perform this procedure on spinal fluid and bone marrow within hours.
Immunophenotyping can diagnose diseases in which there is some type problem with human white blood cells. Perhaps the most common of these diseases is leukemia, a cancerous disease in which the bone marrow supplies the body with an unusually large amount of white blood cells. Arganulocytosis is another disease caused by the destruction of neutrophil granulocytes, the most abundant type of white blood cell.
Leukopenia is another disease similar to arganulocytosis, but is less severe. Like its counterpart, it occurs when the number of white blood cells falls below 5,000 per cubic milliliter. Leukopenia, however, is usually caused by an allergic reaction to a drug or chemical rather than direct destruction.
Finally, infectious mononucleosis is another disease characterized by the presence of abnormally formed lymphocytes in the bloodstream. It’s a relatively contagious disease, and many people believe that kissing is a viable method of transmission, so it’s been dubbed “the kissing disease.” Also known as glandular fever, this disease is somewhat difficult to diagnose by immunophenotyping. Glandular fever incubates between four days and four weeks, and the patient may experience any number of symptoms. This includes a general feeling of weakness, loss of appetite, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, headache and fever.
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