(W1) Leukocyte Disorders Flashcards
Describe the morphology of leucocytes (neutrophil, lymphocyte, monocyte, eosinophil and basophil)
Neutrophil:
- lobulated nucleus
- grey-pink cytoplasm
Lymphocyte:
- round nucleus
- small amount of pale blue cytoplasm
- smaller than a neutrophil (in diameter)
Granular lymphocyte:
- dark red/magenta cytoplasmic granules
- present in the dog (and occasionally in cats and horses)
- (mainly cytotoxic T lymphocytes, less so B cells)
Monocyte:
- equal to or larger than neutrophil
- lobulated nucleus (not as lobulated as neutrophil)
- thick nucleus
- blue cytoplasm
- some have vacuolated cytoplasm
Eosinophil:
- many orange granules in cytoplasm
- (granules in greyhounds/sight hounds don’t stain very well)
Basophil:
- purple granules in cytoplasm
Lymphoid stem cell gives rise to what cells?
- B lymphocytes
- T lymphocytes
- NK lymphocytes (natural killer)
What are platelets derived from?
megakaryocytes - fragments of megakaryocytes form platelets
Myeloid stem cells give rise to what cells?
- erythrocytes
- neutrophils
- monocytes
- eosinophils
- basophils
- mast cells
Note and mast cells are different cells*
- They appear similar morphologically, but are coming from distinct
progenitor cells
- basophils circulate in the blood
- mast cells are only found in tissues in health
What are the last 3 stages of neutrophil maturation?
- metamyelocyte
- band
- segmenter (aka mature neutrophil)
will see these stages in blood film
Describe the neutrophil distribution in the bone marrow
There are 2 compartments:
- the neutrophil proliferation compartment (containing the early stage cells, apart form the last 3 stages, of neutrophil development)
- the neutrophil maturation and storage compartment (containing the metamyelocytes, band neutrophils and mature/segmented neutrophils
Describe the neutrophil release from bone marrow
- mature/segmented neutrophils are released first
- during increased tissue
demand for neutrophils, mature neutrophils are exhausted so band neutrophils and
metamyelocytes may be
released in the blood
circulation prematurely (this is called LEFT SHIFT)
What are the morphologies of the last 3 stages of neutrophil maturation?
Metamyelocyte - kidney shaped nucleus
Band neutrophil - c-shaped (or u-shaped) nucleus that isn’t lobulated
Mature (segmented) neutrophil - lobulated nucleus (up to 5 lobes)
What are the 2 neutrophil pool in the blood circulation? What are the proportions of neutrophils found in each pool in mammals generally (any exceptions?)?
Circulating Neutrophil Pool (CNP):
- neutrophils that are free flowing in the blood
Marginated Neutrophil Pool (MNP):
- neutrophils (rolling neutrophils) that temporarily adhere to the endothelial cells of blood vessel walls
- after adhesion, these neutrophils may return to the circulating pool, or migrate to the tissues
Proportions:
- most mammals: 1/2 of blood neutrophils found in MNP and other half in CNP
- cats: 3/4 in MNP and 1/4 in CNP
How are neutrophils attached to the endothelial cells of blood vessels?
attachment of neutrophils is mediated by adhesion proteins found on the surface of neutrophils and on the surface of endothelial cells
How long do neutrophils survive for and how are effete neutrophils removed?
in health, they survive in the tissues for 24 to 48 hours
effete neutrophils are largely removed by macrophages (phagocytosed by macrophages) of the spleen, liver, bone marrow, and other tissues
Describe the neutrophil attachment to endothelial cells (the rolling)
- neutrophils found in the blood vessels are circulating with the blood flow
- they have certain molecules on their surface and these attach to receptors on the surface of endothelial receptors
- they then start rolling until they find a way they can exit
- they normally exit between epithelial cells, or at times, through the endothelial cell itself where they enter tissues
In relation to blood samples, what pool are the neutrophils from?
the sample only contains neutrophils part of the CNP
in an animal where there is movement from the CNP to the MNP, numbers will appear lower than the normal (and vice versa)
What is neutrophilia?
elevation of neutrophil absolute count
What is physiologic (shift) neutrophilia and what causes it? Is it seen in health and how long do leucocyte numbers take to return to normal levels?
a shift of neutrophils from the MNP to the CNP
Cause:
- results from effects of catecholamines (typically associated with fear, excitement, and exercise)
- shift may be caused by the change in fluid dynamics that results from increased blood flow rate, especially in lungs
this is seen in most healthy animals and leukocyte numbers increase quickly/return to normal fairly fast after stimulus disappear
What is the magnitude of neutrophilia in physiologic (shift) neutrophilia?
magnitude may be up to 2x x the upper limit of normal for canine, equine and bovine blood
3-4x the upper limit for a cat (because of cat’s larger MNP)
What is steroid (stress) neutrophilia a result of? How does it vary (or not) between species?
results from changes created by the effects of endogenous or exogenous glucocorticoids on neutrophil kinetics
Glucocorticoid effects on blood leucocyte counts differ amongst various animal species
What causes neutrophilia in a stress leucogram? Can this indicate pathology?
- Neutrophils shift from the MNP to the CNP because the production of adhesion molecules is down-regulated
- Fewer neutrophils emigrate to tissues, and thus neutrophils have an increased circulating life span
- Increased release of neutrophils from the bone marrow (segmented neutrophils mostly)
animal might have hyperadrenocorticism/Cushing’s Disease
In which species is the steroid (stress) leucogram most frequently seen in and what are its characteristics?
mostly seen in dogs
Mature:
- neutrophilia
- lymphopenia
- eosinophilia
- monocytosis
the combination of mature neutrophilia (↑ segmented neutrophil numbers) and
lymphopenia (↓ lymphocyte numbers) are the most frequent findings in a stress
leucogram
What are the 2 ways leucocytes are assessed in clinical practice?
Leucocyte numbers:
- manual methods
- haematology analyser
Leucocyte morphology:
- microscopic examination of blood smear
What is a manual method (excluding differential cell count) to assess leucocyte numbers?
Haemocytometer method:
- dilute blood (add solution), which causes RBCs to rupture (want RBCs to rupture so only have WBCs in the sample to look at)
- the blood, after diluted, is dispensed into haemocytometer chambers
method is labour-intensive and so not routinely done
How do haematology analysers work?
Most analysers are either using impedance technology, or laser technology (flow cytometry)
Impendence Technology:
- After addition of lysing agent to remove erythrocytes, each leucocyte cell passes through an aperture creating a voltage peak
- the height of the peak corresponds primarily to the volume of the cell
Laser Technology:
- Cells are suspended in a diluent and injected into a special flowing fluid
- Cells in the sample stream pass through a laser beam, mostly one at a time
- each cells scatters the light in different directions, depending on the cell’s size and contents
- Sensors detect the scattered light at various locations
- Computer programs
analyse the data from the sensors to determine which cell has passed through the laser beam
What is the purpose of differential leucocyte count?
determine the percentage of each of the while cell types (neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils)
Describe how to perform the manual leucocyte differential count (using a differential cell counter)
performed on a blood smear using the microscope and a cell counter
1) Prepare the blood film and find the monolayer (so that cell aren’t on top of each other and can see enough cytological detail - where you can assess cell morphology)
2) Using the 100x objective, move across the monolayer of the smear as shown
3) Press the cell counter button corresponding to the leucocyte/s present within
each field of view
4) The counter will make a noise to notify you that 100 cells have been counted
5) The percentage of each white cell type can be seen on the cell counter’s screen
What are the advantages and disadvantages of performing a manual differential leucocyte count?
Advantages:
- able to simultaneously assess for other possible abnormalities
- e.g. toxic
changes of neutrophils, neoplastic cells in blood, erythrocyte shape abnormalities, presence of
infectious organisms, etc - these can’t be detected with a haematology analyser
Disadvantages:
- only considered an estimate
This is due to:
- sampling error: i.e. only 100 cells counted usually, are they representative?
- identification error: operator variability, difficult to assess cells in samples of low quality and sometimes with diseases causing alterations of cell morphology
What are disadvantages of automated method of differential cell count (haematology analyser)?
- accuracy of results is highly variable between different analysers
- Can be problematic in diseases causing alterations of blood cell morphology (may misidentify cells)
What are heterophils and in what species are they found in?
granulocytic cells, equivalent to neutrophils
found in the blood of various animal species (e.g. avian, reptiles, fish, guinea pigs, rabbits, manatees, etc.)
In which species do neutrophils predominate over lymphocytes and what are the ratios in these species?
dogs and cats
Neu:Lym
dogs - 1.1 - 3.5
cats - 1.8
In what species are the neutrophils and lymphocytes the same in proportion (what is the ratio?
horse
1.1
In what species do the lymphocytes predominate over the neutrophils (what is the ratio)?
cattle - adult ruminants and many species of birds
0.5