Monocyte and granulocyte disorders

Agranulocytosis, also known as agranulosis or granulopenia, is an acute condition involving a severe and dangerous lowered white blood cell count (leukopenia, most commonly of neutrophils) and thus causing neutropenia in the circulating blood. It is a severe lack of one major class of infection-fighting white blood cells. People with this condition are at very high risk of serious infections due to their suppressed immune system.

Neutropenia is an abnormally low concentration of neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) in the blood. Neutrophils make up the majority of circulating white blood cells and serve as the primary defense against infections by destroying bacteria, bacterial fragments and immunoglobulin-bound viruses in the blood. People with neutropenia are more susceptible to bacterial infections and, without prompt medical attention, the condition may become life-threatening (neutropenic sepsis).

Eosinophilia is a condition in which the eosinophil count in the peripheral blood exceeds 0.5×109/L (500/μL). Hypereosinophilia is an elevation in an individual's circulating blood eosinophil count above 1.5×109/L (1,500/μL). The hypereosinophilic syndrome is a sustained elevation in this count above 1.5×109/L (1,500/μL) that is also associated with evidence of eosinophil-based tissue injury.

Basophilia is the condition of having greater than 200 basophils/μL in the venous blood. Basophils are the least numerous of the myelogenous cells, and it is rare for their numbers to be abnormally high without changes to other blood components. Rather, basophilia is most often coupled with other white blood cell conditions such as eosinophilia, high levels of eosinophils in the blood. Basophils are easily identifiable by a blue coloration of the granules within each cell, marking them as granulocytes, in addition to segmented nuclei.

Neutrophilia (also called neutrophil leukocytosis or occasionally neutrocytosis) is leukocytosis of neutrophils, that is, a high number of neutrophils in the blood. Because neutrophils are the main type of granulocytes, mentions of granulocytosis often overlap in meaning with neutrophilia.

Monocytosis is an increase in the number of monocytes circulating in the blood. Monocytes are white blood cells that give rise to macrophages and dendritic cells in the immune system.

Eosinopenia is a condition where the number of eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, in circulating blood is lower than normal. Eosinophils are a type of granulocyte and consequently from the same cellular lineage as neutrophils, basophils, and mast cells. Along with the other granulocytes, eosinophils are part of the innate immune system and contribute to the defense of the body from pathogens. The most widely understood function of eosinophils is in association with allergy and parasitic disease processes, though their functions in other pathologies are the subject of ongoing research. Th

unexplained chronic eosinophila

human disease

In medicine, granulocytosis is the presence of an increased number of granulocytes in the peripheral blood. Often, the word refers to an increased neutrophil granulocyte count (neutrophilia), but granulocytosis formally refers to the combination of neutrophilia, eosinophilia, and basophilia. Leukocytosis refers to an increase in the number of all white blood cells.

Basopenia (or basocytopenia) is a form of agranulocytosis associated with a deficiency of basophils. It has been proposed as an indicator of ovulation. It is difficult to detect without flow cytometry, because normal levels are so low. It can be defined as less than 0.01 billion / L. Basopenia has been observed in a number of conditions, including after the administration of corticosteroids and in disease states such as chronic urticaria and lupus.