Granulocyte

WikiDoc Resources for Granulocyte
Articles
Most recent articles on Granulocyte Most cited articles on Granulocyte Review articles on Granulocyte Articles on Granulocyte in N Eng J Med, Lancet, BMJ
Media
Powerpoint slides on Granulocyte Images of Granulocyte Photos of Granulocyte Podcasts & MP3s on Granulocyte Videos on Granulocyte
Evidence Based Medicine
Cochrane Collaboration on Granulocyte Bandolier on Granulocyte TRIP on Granulocyte
Clinical Trials
Ongoing Trials on Granulocyte at Clinical Trials.gov Trial results on Granulocyte Clinical Trials on Granulocyte at Google
Guidelines / Policies / Govt
US National Guidelines Clearinghouse on Granulocyte NICE Guidance on Granulocyte NHS PRODIGY Guidance FDA on Granulocyte CDC on Granulocyte
Books
Books on Granulocyte
News
Granulocyte in the news Be alerted to news on Granulocyte News trends on Granulocyte
Commentary
Blogs on Granulocyte
Definitions
Definitions of Granulocyte
Patient Resources / Community
Patient resources on Granulocyte Discussion groups on Granulocyte Patient Handouts on Granulocyte Directions to Hospitals Treating Granulocyte Risk calculators and risk factors for Granulocyte
Healthcare Provider Resources
Symptoms of Granulocyte Causes & Risk Factors for Granulocyte Diagnostic studies for Granulocyte Treatment of Granulocyte
Continuing Medical Education (CME)
CME Programs on Granulocyte
International
Granulocyte en Espanol Granulocyte en Francais
Business
Granulocyte in the Marketplace Patents on Granulocyte
Experimental / Informatics
List of terms related to Granulocyte

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Granulocytes are a category of white blood cells characterised by the presence of granules in their cytoplasm. They are also called polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN or PML) because of the varying shapes of the nucleus, which is usually lobed into three segments. In common parlance, the term polymorphonuclear leukocyte often refers specifically to neutrophil granulocytes, the most abundant of the granulocytes. Granulocytes or PMN are released from the bone marrow by the regulatory complement proteins.

Classification

There are three types of granulocytes, distinguished by their appearance under Wright's stain:

• Neutrophil granulocytes
• Eosinophil granulocytes
• Basophil granulocytes.

• 

  Eosinophil granulocyte

• 

  Basophil granulocyte

Their names are derived from their staining characteristics; for example, the most abundant granulocyte is the neutrophil granulocyte, which has neutrally-staining cytoplasmic granules.

Other white blood cells which are not granulocytes ("agranulocytes") are mainly lymphocytes and monocytes.

Toxic materials produced or released

Examples of toxic materials produced or released by degranulation by granulocytes on the ingestion of microorganism includes:

• Low pH vesicles (3.5~4.0)
• Toxic oxygen-derived products (e.g. superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxy radicals, singlet oxygen, hypohalite)
• Toxic nitrogen oxides (nitric oxide)
• Antimicrobial agents (Defensins and cationic proteins)
• Enzymes (Lysozyme- dissolves cell walls of some gram positive bacteria, acid hydrolases- further digest bacteria).

Pathology

Granulocytopenia is an abnormally low concentration of granulocytes in the blood. This condition reduces the body's resistance to many infections. Closely-related terms include agranulocytosis and neutropenia.

A granuloma is a tumor containing granulocytes, and a "granulomatosis" is a necrotizing granuloma.

There is usually a granulocyte chemotactic defect in individuals who suffer from insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Additional images

• 

  Blood cell lineage

• 

  Hematopoiesis

See also

• Blood count
• White blood cell

External links

• Granulocytes at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)