Viability of Human Blood Leukocytes Compared with Their Respective Cell Lines after Plasma Treatment

Non-thermal plasma application has become a promising field of investigation in chronic wound healing research over the past few decades. In addition to its well-characterized antibacterial effects, plasma potentially promotes the growth of eukaryotic cells. To date, mainly epithelial skin cells have been examined regarding the impact of plasma treatment on chronic wound healing. However, immune cells also are involved in wound healing as well as the removal of pathogens. Therefore, we compared the survival behavior of 2 human leukocyte cell lines (a monocyte and a CD4+ T helper cell line) and their respective human blood counterparts after exposure to plasma. Measurements of early and late apoptotic cells demonstrate that freshly isolated blood cells were more susceptible to apoptosis induction than the cell lines. Furthermore, blood and cell line monocytes tolerated longer plasma exposure compared with blood and cell line CD4+ T helper cells.