BACKGROUND Mass cytometry can differentiate more channels than conventional flow cytometry. However, for clinical use, standardization and agreement with well-established methods is paramount. We compared mass cytometry to standard clinical flow cytometry. METHODS Mass and flow cytometry were performed in parallel on peripheral blood samples from 25 healthy individuals. Antibody staining was performed on the same samples at the same time, and analyzed for granulocyte, monocyte, lymphocyte, T, B, NK, CD4 and CD8 percentages. Validation parameters included comparison to flow cytometry, inter- and intra-assay precision and establishment of reference intervals. RESULTS There was a positive correlation between mass and flow cytometry for the eight populations studied (R2 between 0.26 and 0.97). Slopes of the best-fit lines varied from 0.50 to 1.21 (fluorescence/mass). No significant differences in variance were found (F-test, P > 0.05). However, paired t-tests were significantly different for four of the eight markers (granulocytes, NK cells, T cells and CD4 cells), resulting in different reference intervals. Signal intensities were correlated for monocytes, lymphocytes, T, CD4 and CD8 cells (R2 = 0.41-0.57). The mass cytometry intra-assay precisions were 0.7-8.5% and inter-assay precisions 1.5-13.8%. CONCLUSION Mass and flow cytometry evaluations of whole blood for major cell populations correlate with similar precision and signal intensity. However, for clinical use, separate reference interval studies are required. Cell population identification should rely on gating strategies that take advantage of the characteristics offered by each method. © 2019 International Clinical Cytometry Society.

中文翻译：

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在临床实验室中评估细胞计数法。

背景技术与传统的流式细胞术相比，大规模细胞术可以区分更多的通道。但是，对于临床使用而言，标准化和与公认的方法达成一致是至关重要的。我们将质量流式细胞术与标准临床流式细胞术进行了比较。方法对25例健康个体的外周血样本并行进行质量和流式细胞术。同时在相同样品上进行抗体染色，并分析其粒细胞，单核细胞，淋巴细胞，T，B，NK，CD4和CD8百分比。验证参数包括与流式细胞术的比较，测定间和测定内的精密度以及建立参考区间。结果在所研究的八个人群中，流式细胞仪与质量和正相关（R2在0.26和0.97之间）。最佳拟合线的斜率从0.50到1。21（荧光/质量）。没有发现方差显着差异（F检验，P> 0.05）。但是，八种标记物中的四种（粒细胞，NK细胞，T细胞和CD4细胞）的配对t检验显着不同，从而导致不同的参考间隔。单核细胞，淋巴细胞，T，CD4和CD8细胞的信号强度相关（R2 = 0.41-0.57）。大量细胞内测定的内精密度为0.7-8.5％，测定间的精密度为1.5-13.8％。结论全血中主要细胞群体的质量和流式细胞仪评估与相似的精度和信号强度相关。但是，对于临床使用，需要单独的参考间隔研究。细胞群体鉴定应依靠利用每种方法提供的特征的门控策略。