Essays on Granulocyte

Infection in cancer patient with febrile neutropenia: epidemiology, microbiology and management

Abstract Febrile neutropenia (FN) is characterised by a decrease in neutrophils number to values below 500 cells/ mm3 and an occurrence of fever higher or similar to 38.3ºC. It commonly occurs in cancer patients as a result of chemotherapy regimens. Chemotherapy destroys carcinogenic cells but also attacks in many cases some normal cells including essential elements of the immune system. Fever is one of the characteristic symptoms of FN and is usually associated with the presence of an infection caused by various microorganisms. Bacteria, including Gram-positive isolates (currently dominating) and Gram-negative species (dominant in the 1970s), are usually ...

Introduction

Neutrophils are produced from hematopoietic cells. Before these hematopoietic cells mature into fully functional neutrophils and enter the blood stream, they migrate through three cellular compartments, namely, the mitotic compartment, post-mitotic compartment and the storage compartment. Neutropenia is a condition characterized by decrease in the neutrophil count. Neutrophils are essential for fighting infections in the body. Common causes of neutropenia are chemotherapy, autoimmune disorders, drug reactions and genetic reasons. Absolute blood neutrophil count (ANC) in mild neutropenia is between 1.0 and 1.5 109/L. In severe neutropenia, the ANC is less than 0.5 109/L. Neutropenia can either be inherited or acquired. ( ...

Differentiation of white blood cells by light microscopy

Most mammals have blood consisting of three types of blood cells, Red blood cells (Erythrocytes), White blood cells (Leukocytes) and Platelets (Thrombocyte). These are collectively termed as hematocyte, which simply means blood cell. These cells constitute to around 40% to 45% of the blood volume. The remaining consist of Plasma, which is referred to the liquid part of blood. The total volume of blood can be determined by centrifugation or flow cytometry. The 45% of blood component (blood cells) is termed as hematocrit. Another important component of blood is hemoglobin, which gives blood its red color. It is ...