Laboratory techniques of veterinary clinical immunology: a review.

Laboratory tests currently used or easily applicable in veterinary clinical immunology were reviewed in the following three categories: (1) tests detecting disorders in humoral immune response: serum protein screening tests, gammaglobulin estimation and complement testing; (2) tests detecting disorders in cellular immune response: phagocyte function tests and lymphocyte function tests; (3) tests detecting autoimmune disorders: detection of antinuclear antibodies, rheumatoid factor, autoimmune hemolytic diseases, and autoimmune organ and tissue disorders. The principles of the tests and the interpretations of the results are presented with the appropriate references.