Canine Nucleated Red Blood Cells

Nucleated red blood cells nrbc nucleated erythrocytes in blood in a case of canine plumbism.

Canine nucleated red blood cells.

Low count of all blood cell lines like red blood cells white blood cells and platelets myelodysplasia group of disorders in which the. Usually when you see nucleated red blood cells in a dog s blood work it means that they are making more red blood cells. However polychromatophilic metarubricytes and even earlier stages basophilic rubricyte which has purple to blue purple cytoplasm and a somewhat viable nucleus may be seen. In this blood smear from a dog with a regenerative anemia there are two nucleated rbc arrows and one lymphocyte lymph.

A nucleated red blood cell also known by several other names is a red blood cell that contains a cell nucleus. In contrast the lymphocyte has an indented nucleus with lighter chromatin and small amounts of blue not red or purple cytoplasm. The dog had large numbers of nucleated red blood cells nrbc in blood 50 per 100 wbc. Nucleated rbc are usually not seen in the blood of healthy mammals low numbers may be seen in dogs and camelids but are rarely normally seen in other species.

The pcv was 39. Red blood cells carry oxygen around the blood stream to the tissues. Donate to the champ fund and help cure canine cancer. In severe blood loss anemia red blood cells are lost but death usually results from the loss of total blood volume rather than from the lack of oxygen caused by loss of red blood cells.

The intent of our study is to assess the prognostic implications of the presence of increased nrbc in patients with myelophthisis. Nucleated red blood cells are young red blood cells. Small numbers of polychromatophilic erythrocytes are observed in blood smears from healthy dogs 1 5 reticulocytes. Most of the nrbc had condensed pyknotic nuclei and red or purple arrows cytoplasm which is the most mature stage of nrbc orthrochromic or polychromatophilic nrbc.

In dogs the most common cause of serious hemolysis is an antibody directed against that dog s own red blood cells immune mediated hemolytic anemia. The presence of elevated nucleated red blood cells nrbc in the peripheral blood smear points towards the presence of myelodysplastic syndrome or myelophthisis. They have red to purple cytoplasm and basophilic stippling more evident in the lower cell pyknotic nuclei and slightly raggedly borders. Hemolysis may be caused by toxins infections abnormalities present at birth drugs or antibodies that attack the red blood cells.

The presence of nucleated red cells in peripheral blood erythroblastosis usually signals a regenerative response by marrow to anemia in which case it is accompanied by reticulocytosis. Blood smear from a dog with immune mediated hemolytic anemia. Retrospective single institution chart review over a period of 7 years. Almost all vertebrate organisms have hemoglobin containing cells in their blood and with the exception of mammals all of these red blood cells are nucleated.

The most common type of nrbc seen in blood is the fully hemoglobinized or orthochromic metarubricyte a cell with red cytoplasm and a small pyknotic nucleus. The canine erythrocyte lifespan varies from 110 120 days. Nrbcs are normally found in the bone marrow of. In mammals nrbcs occur in normal development as precursors to mature red blood cells in erythropoiesis the process by which the body produces red blood cells.

Occasional nucleated red blood cells and howell jolly bodies may also be seen in blood smears from healthy non anemic dogs.