The specificity of commercial conjugates to human immunoglobulins: results of performance tests on monoclonal and polyclonal plasma cells and lymphocytes.

The activity and the specificity of 29 fluorochrome conjugated antisera against human immunoglobulin heavy and light chains were evaluated by performance testing with the direct technique of immunofluorescence using plasma cells and lymphocytes as biological substrates. Fifteen conjugates gave satisfactory results in the detection and classification of cytoplasmic and surface bound immunoglobulins and were therefore considered specific. Fourteen conjugates did not meet the required standards. The usefulness of the biological substrates for quality control tests is discussed.