Leukocytes Flashcards
What are common things about all WBCs?
- all white
- all nucleated
- common function:defense
- all made in bone marrow
How many times a day are Neutrophils being replaced?
2.5X day
What does the number of WBCs in the peripheral blood circulation reflect?
conditions in the tissue and bone marrow
What is the normal WBC range for canine?
6,000-7,000/microliter
What is the normal WBC range for feline?
5,500-19,500/microliter
What is important in defining disease states?
- evaluation of WBC numbers
- morphology
What are 3 ways to classify WBCs?
- type of defense function
- shape of nucleus
- presence or absence of staining granules
What are the 2 types of defense functions?
- phagocytosis
- immunity
What WBCs are responsible for phagocytosis?
- neutrophil
- monocyte/macrophage
- eosinophil
- basophil
What WBC is responsible for immunity?
lymphocytes
What 2 types of Lymphocytes are responsible for immunity?
- B-Cell
- TCell
What are the functions of a B-Cell?
- provide immunity
- humoral immunity
- plasma
What are the functions of a T-Cell?
- cytokines
- cell mediated immunity
- tissues
What are the shapes of WBC nuclei?
- polymorphic
- mononuclear
- pleomorphic
What are the characteristics of a Polymorphic nucleus?
- multi lobed
- segmented
What WBCs have a polymorphic nucleus?
- neutrophil
- basophil
- eosinophil
What are characteristics of a mononucleated WBC?
oval or round
What WBC has a mononuclear nucleus?
lymphocyte
What are characteristics of a Pleomorphic nucleated WBC?
- kidney shaped
- horseshoe shaped
What WBC has a pleomorphic nucleus?
monocyte
Which WBCs are Agranulocytes?
- lymphocytes
- monocytes
Which WBCs are Granulocytes?
- neutrophil
- basophil
- eosinophil
What color do Eosinophils stain?
red
What color do Basophil’s stain?
blue
What stains are considered Romanoski Stains?
- Wright’s Stain
- Modified Wright’s
- Geimsa
- Wright’s-Geimsa
- Leishman’s
What type of stain is Diff-Quik?
Wright’s Stain
What are the 3 solutions in a stain?
- alcohol fixative
- acidic red stain
- basic blue stain
What WBC does an Acidic Red Stain stain?
eosinophil
What WBC does a Basic Blue Stain stain?
basophil
What are the 3 solutions in Diff Quik?
- methylalcohol
- eosin red
- methylene blue
Color and Function of Methylalcohol
- light blue
- fixative
Color and Function of Eosin Red
- pink
- stains
- acidic
Color and Function of Methylene Blue
- purple/dark blue
- counterstain
- alkaline
What is Leukopoiesis?
production of all WBCs
What are Cytokines?
WBC stimuli for production
What are the 3 Cytokines?
- interleukins
- colony stimulating factors
- interferons
What is the maturation process of Granulopoiesis?
- PPSC
- myeloid stem cells
- myeloblasts
- promyelocytes
- myelocytes
- metamyelocytes
- band granulocyte
- segmented granulocyte
Nucleus of Granulocyte
transforms from a large round structure with loose chromatin patter into a segmented multi-lobed structure with more dense chromatin
What are Chromatin Strands?
thin filaments that connect lobes in nucleus
What happens as a cell becomes sensecent?
segments break apart and become pykontic
What is Pyknosis?
sign of a dying cell
How many lobes does a typical Granulocyte have?
2-3 lobes
What is a hypersegmented granulocyte?
has more tha 5 lobes
When should hypersegmented granulocytes be visible in the tissue?
- seen as artifact when blood is helod longer than 24 hours prior to making a smear
- steroids
What color is a cytoplasm of a granulocyte initially?
intense dark blue due to lots of metabolic activity
What color cytoplasm does a mature granulocyte have?
clear
What is the average size of a mature neutrophil?
10-12 microns
What produces the granules in the granulocyte?
gogli apparatus
What are 2 sets of granules found in granulocytes?
- primary
- secondary
What are primary granules?
- “non specific”
- contain no chemicals
- stain intense red
What are secondary granules?
- “specific”
- contain chemicals
- found in myelocytes
What granulocytes are found in leukemia?
- myeloblasts
- promyeloblasts
- myelocytes
How long does it take fo make a mature Neutrophil?
3-6 days
What is a toxi neutrophil?
represents a decrease in the maturation time in the bone marrow
How long do neutrophils circulate in the blood?
5-10 days then enter tissue
What is the primary function of a neutrophil?
phagocytosis
What do neutrophils phagocytize?
bacteria
What are the granules located in the neutrophil called?
lysosomes
What do the lysosomes in neutrophils contain?
lysosomal enzymes with antibacterial properties
What locations have the highest number of neutrophils?
GI tract
respiratory tract
What is Diapedesis?
process by which WBCs leave blood vessels and enter tissue
What WBC does not have a pseudopod?
lymphocyte
What are the 2 “phrases that pay”?
- steroids inhibit diapedesis
- steroids lyse lymphocytes
What are the 5 steps of Phagocytosis (neutrophi)?
- attraction
- attachment/adherence
- ingestion
- fusion
- digestion
What is Chemotaxis?
movement of WBCs into an area of inflammation in response to chemical mediators released at the site by injured tissue or other WBCs
What is Opsonins?
- “sauces”
- plasma proteins that coat microorganisms to attract phagocytes, enabling recognition of foreign substances
What are the 2 functions of Opsoninization?
- makes foreign invaders positively charged to attract neutrophils
- coats encapsulated microorganisms to reveal them
Step 3: Ingestion
- cell surrounds microorganisms with its pseudopod
- phagosome is formed
Step 4: Fusion
lysosomes line up along edge of phagosome, fuse with the membrane, then secrete contents into psuedovacuole
Step 5: Digestion
- neutrophil rapidly absorbs oxygen and reduces it to super-oxide
- super-oxide reacts with hydrogen ions in tissue fluid to form hydrogen peroxide
What is Myeloperoxidase?
lysosomal enzyme produces hypochlorite (bleach) from chloride in tissue fluid
What is the normal neutrophil range for canine?
3,000-11,400/microliter
What is the normal neutrophil range for feline?
2,500-12,500/microliter
What is the normal total WBC range for canine?
6,000-17,000/microliter
What is the normal total WBC range for feline?
5,500-19,500/microliter
What is an increase in neutrophils?
neutrophilia=leukocytosis
What is a decrease in neutrophils?
neutropenia=leukopenia
What is the predominant WBC in cattle, sheep and goats?
lymphocyte
What is the predominant WBC in pigs and horses?
lymphocytes and neutrophils
What are the 3 factors that control the number of neutrophils in the blood?
- rate of release of mature neutrophils from storage pool in bone marrow into circulation
- rate of escape from blood into tissues
- rate of maturation
What does the rate of escape from blood into tissues depend on (neutrophil)?
demand in tissue
What are the 2 type of neutrophil pools?
- blood pools
- bone marrow pools
What are the 2 types of blood pools?
- circulating neutrophil pool
- marginal neutrohil pool
What is the circulating neutrophil pool?
- neutrohils circulating through blood vessel
- where blood is sampled
- normal ranges come from here
What is the marginal neutrophil pool?
- loosly lining inside of small blood vessels in abdominal vessels
- spleen and lungs
True or False: neutrophils can move freely between CNP and MNP
true
What can cause De-margination?
- fear
- excitement
- pain
- epinephrine
What is the ratio of CNP:MNP in canine?
50:50
What is the ration of CNP:MNP in a feline?
30:70
What are the 2 bone marrow pools?
- storage pool
- mitotic pool
What is the storage pool?
consists of neutrophils that aren’t dividing
What WBCs are in the storage pool?
- segs
- bands
- metamyelocytes
What is the mitotic pool?
- dividing pool
- “proliferative pool”
What WBCs are in the mitotic pool?
- myelocytes
- promyelocytes
- myeloblasts
What is the normal band neutrophil range?
0-300/microliter
What is a “left shift”?
greater than 300/microliter (bands)
What is a regenerative left shift?
segmented neutrophils outnumber band neutrophils
What is a degenerative left shift?
- bands outnumber segmented neutrophils
- implies granulopoiesis can’t keep up with demand
What is a “right shift”?
- increase in hypersegmented neutrophils
- caused by steroids, or blood being held for 24hrs prior to making smear (artifact)
What is Neutropenia?
- absolute decrease in neutrophils
- leads to leukopenia
What are the 3 causes of Neutropenia?
- reduced or ineffective granulopoiesis
- increased demand in tissue
- margination
What are the causes for reduced/ineffective granulopoiesis?
- myelopathies
- radiation
- drugs/toxins
- canine parvovirus,ehrlichia
- feline panleukopenia, FIV, FeLv
What are the causes of increased demand in tissue?
- overwhelming infection (septicemia, bacteremia)
- acute inflammation
What are the causes of margination?
endotoxemia
What is Margination?
neutrophils from CNP move into MNP and line the vessel wall
What is the “panic range” of Neutropenia?
<1,000/microliter
What is “Cyclic Neutropenia”?
neutrophils decrease substantially for idopathic reasons on regular basis
True or False: Neutropenia has a poor prognosis
True
What is Neutrophilia?
absolute increase in neutrophils that leads to leukocytosis
What are the causes of Neutrophilia?
- chronic or acute inflammation
- infection
- leukemia
- physiological response
- stress response
What is the range for extreme neutrophilia?
> 5,000/microliter
What are the causes of extreme neutrophilia?
- pancreatitis
- pyometra
- prostatisis
- periodontitis
What are the 2 types of Pyometra?
- open
- closed
What is Open Pyometra?
- patient has green/white smelly discharge from uterus
- fixed by IV antibiotics
What is Closed Pyometra?
- progression of open pyometra
- cervix closes off
- requires historectomy
What is Prostatitis?
inflammation of prostate gland
What is the range for leukemoid response?
> 100,000/microliter
What are the 3 types of leukograms?
- physiologic
- stress
- inflammatory
What is the cause of a physiologcal response?
ephinephrin release
What are clinical signs of physiological response?
- increased bp
- increased hr
- increased pulse
- vasoconstriction
- muscle contraction
What species do physiological responses mostly affect?
- cats
- young animals
Physiologcal Leukogram: Total WBC count
increased because increase in neutrophils
PL: Neutrophils
- increased (demargination)
- no bands
PL: lymphocytes
increased because of splenic contractions
PL:eosinophils
decreased
PL:monocytes
stays same
PL: basophils
stays same
How long does it take for a physiological response to take place and resolve?
- instantly
- 30 minutes
What is the cause of a stress response?
- steroids
- either endogenous (produced by body), or exogenous (administered)
What species do stress responses effect?
dogs
SL: Total WBC count
increase
SL: neutrophils
increases (steroids inhibit diapedesis)
SL: lymphocytes
decrease (steroids lyse lymphocytes)
SL: eosinophils
decrease
SL: monocytes
increases (follow neutrophils, has time to follow)
SL: basophils
stays same
How long does it take for a stress response to take place and resolve?
- days to show
- days to over a week to resolve
What is the casue of Inflammatory Response?
- inflammation
- either acute or chronic
- infectious or non infectious
What species does inflammatory response affect?
any
IL: total WBC count
increase then decrease
IL:neutrophils
increase then decrease
IL: lymphocytes
usually increase
IL:eosinophils
- increased (parasitic infections and allergies)
- same (other)
IL: monocytes
increased (chronic)
IL: basophils
same or increased (hypersensitivity reactions)
What is the normal time for inflammatory response to show and resolve?
- acute:fast
- chronic:slow
What are the 2 toxic changes in neutrophils?
- toxic neutrophil
- giant neutrophil
What are causes of a toxic neutrophil?
- inflammation
- infection
- drugs/toxins
What species are toxic neutrophils most significant in?
dogs
What are 4 critera of toxic neutrophils?
- dohle bodies
- diffuse cytoplasmic basophilia
- cytoplasmic vacuolization
- toxic granulation
What are Dohle Bodies?
- light blue inclusions that occur near periphery of cytoplasm
- retained rough endoplasmic reticulum
What is the normal size of a Dohle Body?
1-2 microns
What is cytoplasmic vacuolization?
- disruption in membrane formation
- “foamy appearance”
What is toxic granulation?
- disruption of cytoplasmic granules in precursor cells
- granules are azurophilic
What is a giant neutrophil?
- results from decreased maturation time in bone marrow
- dysgranulopoiesis
What is Dysgranulopoiesis?
mitotic division step is skipped by a precursor cell
Where are giant neutrophils seen?
cats with FeLv/FIV
What WBC do giant neutrophils get mistaken for?
monocytes
What are the 4 other morphological changes in neutrophils?
- pelger-huet anomaly
- canine distemper viral inclusions
- pathogenic microorganisms
- barr bodies
What are Pelger-Huet Anomalies?
- congenital defect
- hyposegmentation of all granulocyte nuclei
- chromatin is very dense, yet nucleus is unsegmented
What is Pseudo Pelger-Huet Anomaly?
- not congenital
- results from idosyncratic drug reaction or normal variation of inflammatory response
- only some neutrophils are affected
What are canine distemper viral inclusions?
- variable in size, shape, color and number
- not diagnostic
- rare
What are pathogenic microorganisms?
bacteria
What are examples of pathogenic microorganisms?
- hepatazoon canis
- cytauxzoon felis
- histoplasma spp
- ehrlichia ewingii
What are Barr Bodies?
- “drumstick appendages”
- “sex lobes”
- rare
- affects 2nd inactive X chromosome
Where are Barr Bodies seen?
- only in healthy females
- male calico cats
What is the normal range for eosinophils in canines?
100-750/microliter
What is the normal range for Eosinophils in feline?
0-750/microliter
How long does it take for eosinophils to reproduce?
2-6 days
What is the blood transit time for eosionphils?
0.5-18hrs
What cytokine regulates eosinophil?
- interleukin 5
- produced by t cells
What is the tissue life span of eosinophil?
1 week
Where is the highest concentration of Eosinophils located?
- GI tract
- respiratory tract
- skin
Nucleus (Eosinophil)
2-3 lobes
Cytoplasm (Eosinophil)
clear
Granules (Eosinophil)
vary by species
What do granules in Canine Eosinophils look like?
- round
- variable sizes
- stains light pink
What do granules in Feline Eosinophils look like?
- rod shaped
- small
- numerous
- frequently seen across nucleus
- stains darker than dog’s
What do granules in Horse Eosinophils look like?
- very large
- round-oval
- stain light color
What do granules in Sheep, Pigs and Cattle Eosinophils look like?
- round
- stain pink/red (orange)
- similar to dog, but not variable in size
What do Eosinophil Granules contain?
- myeloperoxidase
- major base protein
- histaminase
What are the key functions of Eosinophil?
- anti inflammatory/anti allergy response
- parasites
- have limited bacterialcidal activity
What is a normal anti inflammatory response?
- in tissues
- mast cells degranulate and release histamine and heparin
What does Histamase do?
deactivate histamine
What does Major Basic Protein do?
- deactivates heparin
- digest parasites in tissues
What does Myeloperoxidase do?
have limited bacterialcidal properties
What are the causes of Eosinopenia?
- any problem in bone marrow
- steroids
- ephinephrine
- acute infection or inflammation
What are the things that affect eosinophilia?
- allergies
- parasites
- leukemia
- granulomatous inflammation
- neoplasia
- asthma
What allergies affect Eosinophilia?
- food
- fleas
- environment
What is the normal range of basophils?
rare
What is the maturation time of basophils?
2.5 days
What is the blood transit time of basophils?
6 hours
What is the tissue life span of basophils?
2 weeks
Nucleus (basophil)
2-3 lobes (usually 2)
Cytoplasm (basophil)
light grey
Granules (basophil)
- water soluble
- wash out during staining process
- cats have more than dogs
What is the normal size of basophil?
12-20 microns
What do the granules of basophil contain?
- histamine
- heparin
- eosniophilic chemotactic factor
Histamine (basophil)
- start of inflammation
- causes vasodilation
- causes increased capillary permeability
Eosinophilc Chemotactic Factor
attracts eosinophils
Eosinophils are similart to mast cells except:
mast cells are larger, have round nucleus, originate (and stay) in tissue, granules are not water soluble
Where are mast cell tumors most prevalent?
- skin
- GI tract
What is a decrease in basophils?
- basopenia
- doesn’t exist
What is an increase in basophils?
basophilia
What are causes of basophilia?
- acute allergic reactions
- hypersensitivity
- anaphlaxysis
What is the normal range for monocytes in dogs?
150-1,350/microliter
What is the normal range of monocytes in cats?
0-850/microliter
What is the production of Monocytes?
monocytopoiesis
What is the maturation process of a monocyte?
- PPSC
- myeloid stem cell
- monoblast
- promonocyte
- monocyte
- tissue macrophage
What is the size of a monocyte?
15-20/microns
Monocyte:nucleus
- kidney or band shaped
- pleomorphic
- does not segment
Monocyte: cytoplasm
- gray/blue
- fine granular appearance (ground glass)
Monocyte: vacuoles
- “activated monocyte”
- activated by EDTA
What is the bone marrow maturation time of monocyte?
24-36 hours
What is the blood transport time for monocytes?
24-36 hours
How long do monocytes live in the tissue?
weeks to months
What type of infection are monocytes associated with?
chronic
Where are macrophages most prevalent?
- “filter organs”
- liver
- spleen
- lungs
- lymph nodes
Macrophage in liver
Kuppffer’s cells
Macrophage in connective tissue
Histiocytes
Macrophage in CNS
microglial cells
Macrophage in Spleen
reticular cells
What is the mononuclear phagocyte system?
tissue macrophages + monocytes = MPS
Why cant neutrophils be in the MPS?
cant eat as much as macrophage
What are the functions of the MPS?
- follow neutrophils to clean up cellular debris and products of inflammation/infection
- phagocytosis of large particles
- role in immunity
- release tumor necrosis factor
What is the Macrophage’s role in immunity?
processes antigens and presents them (on cell membrane) to T cells
What is monocytopenia?
decrease in monocytes
What is the cause of monocytopenia?
acute inflammation/infection
What is monocytosis?
increase in monocytes
What are causes of monocytosis?
- chronic inflammation/infection
- stress response (steroids)
- monocytic leukemia
What are Smudge Cells?
- “basket cell”
- can be any WBC
- created while making blood smear
- always an artifact
- stain hot pink/magenta