BD Multitest 6-Color TBNK Reagent with BD Trucount Tubes

BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) has announced the CE mark for the BD Multitest 6-Color TBNK Reagent with BD Trucount Tubes with expanded clinical application to help clinicians identify COVID-19 patients at increased relative risk of intubation with mechanical ventilation (IMV) and mortality at hospital admission. By providing deeper understanding of immune responses, clinicians can understand an appropriate course of action for patients while also prioritising the use of hospital resources.

The six-colour direct immunofluorescence reagent can be used with a suitably equipped BD flow cytometer to identify and determine the percentages and absolute counts of T, B and natural killer (NK) cells, as well as the CD4 and CD8 subpopulations of T cells in peripheral blood. It is used in conjunction with the BD FACSLyric and BD FACSCanto II Clinical Flow Cytometers for COVID-19 clinical applications. As shown in clinical studies, some patients with COVID-19 may exhibit a decrease of specific lymphocyte T-cell subsets (CD4+ and/or CD8+ T-cells), and this decrease is associated with increased risk of IMV and mortality. Knowing a patient’s T-cell count can therefore be instrumental in informing the right course of action, and the product may aid in these types of determinations.