mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC)

Indications

• compatibility testing for tissue transplantation
• used to determine the most compatible related donor
• also used in testing compatibility of unrelated bone marrow donors

Reference interval

• degree of stimulation is proportional to antigenic disparity at the HLA-D region

Specimen

• whole blood (heparin or sterile ACD-A)
• donor & recipient samples should be collected at the same time

Procedure

• lymphocytes from a potential donor are mixed with lymphocytes from the recipient
• the donor's lymphocytes are treated (irradiated) to prevent reactivity
• the recipient's lymphocytes will respond by undergoing DNA synthesis & cell replication in relation to the degree of HLA_D disparity
• the most compatible donor will give the least reactivity
• reactivity is measured by tritiated thymidine uptake
• the procedure requires 7-10 days for completion

Interferences

• presence of blast cells may cause false positive reactions

More general terms

• clinical hematology test