Lymphocyte transformation assays enable lymphocyte activation to be studied in vitro. Lymphocytes may be stimulated by specific or non-specific antigens.
The resulting activation of lymphocytes can be monitored with flow cytometry by testing changes in DNA representation or by determining the rate of proliferation by specific molecules (1-3). The result of measurement may be affected by ongoing disease (immuno-deficiency) or treatment (immunosuppression, immunomodulation) (4).
In our study, we monitored a group of 27 patients after bone marrow transplant who were on immunosuppression with corticosteroids or a combination of corticoids and cyclosporin A. The control goup consisted of 15 healthy