No-wash, No-lyse Detection of Leukocytes in Human Whole Blood on the Attune NxT Flow Cytometer

Standard methods for isolating and detecting leukocytes (white blood cells) in human whole blood are time-consuming and often involve significant manipulation and enrichment prior to analysis. In human whole blood, red blood cells outnumber white blood cells ~1,000-fold. This creates two hurdles in attempting to analyze whole blood samples without manipulation or enrichment: 1) collection of a sufficient number of white blood cell events for statistically meaningful data, and 2) differentiation of white blood cells from red blood cells given the high probability of coincident red blood cell events, which is clear when observing a conventional forward and side scatter profile of whole blood. This application note outlines a strategy for the detection of white blood cells within whole blood using the Attune NxT Flow Cytometer.