PURIFICATION OF FETAL LYMPHOCYTES FROM MATERNAL BLOOD

摘要

A method is presented for selective stimulation of fetal lymphocytes to divide in culture after treatment of mixed adult-fetal blood samples. This method is particularly useful for diagnosing genetic abnormalities of a fetus using fetal cells from a maternal blood sample. The method consists of preferential destruction of maternal lymphocyte response to low concentrations of mitotic stimulants which results in a relative increase in the number of responding fetal cells in mixed adult-fetal blood samples. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, blood samples from pregnant women are processed by the described methodology, exposed to mitotic stimulants in culture, and cells in mitosis are harvested for chromosome analysis. This test will enable detection of fetal chromosome abnormalities by analysis of maternal blood samples.