WBC’s and how the rise/drop of them are associated with diseases such as leukemia and granulomatous.

An interesting topic in our course this semester was describing white blood cells and their functions.  I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “This person has a high white blood cell count” or the phrase “This person has a low white blood cell count” But what does that mean? And what diseases are associated with it? Before we can know this, we must discuss what white blood cells are and what each white blood cell does.  White blood cells in the human immune system defend against infection and protect the body from external hazardous objects (Tamang et al, 2022). White blood cells are comprised of neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes, each white blood cell accounts for a distinct percentage and performs specific functions (Tamang et al, 2022). Let’s start with the first one, Neutrophil is the most common White blood cell you’ll find in the human body, they make up 50-70% percent of the human body. Neutrophils are going to be your body’s main defense against bacterial and fungal infections. Some common bacterial infections that you may have had or heard of that neutrophils help fight against are staphylococcus aureus, streptococcus pyogenes, and E. coli. The next white blood cell is going to be Lymphocytes, they make up approximately 20-40% of the white blood cells in the human body. Lymphocytes are going to protect you against viruses, bacteria, and cancer cells. Lymphocytes are a little more complex than your average white blood cell, primarily because there are two different types of lymphocytes, B cells and T cells. B cells are there to make antibodies, they detect specific pathogens, produce antibodies, and help you gain immunity to the pathogen. T cells are going to be cell killers; they’re useful when you need to destroy infected or abnormal cells, and this makes them very important when dealing with cancer. Lymphocytes in general are here to fight against viruses such as Influenza, HIV, hepatitis B and C, and COVID-19. Next up we have monocytes, they are going to engulf and digest pathogens such as fungi, dead cells, and debris. Monocytes account for 2-8% of the white blood cells in our body. Next is going to be eosinophils, they’re going to be responsible for fighting parasitic infections. Eosinophils develop in the bone marrow.  They make up a small number of white blood cells, which is 1-4%, but they’re critical for defense against parasitic infections. The last white blood cell is basophils, they’re the least common type of white blood cell but they’re very critical. Basophils are going to be responsible for allergic and inflammatory reactions. Basophils account for 0.5-1% of all white blood cells.

Now that we know what each white blood cell is, let us discuss what a rise in white blood cells means. An increase in circulating white blood cells is called leukocytosis, where the white blood cell count is usually greater than the normal amount of 11,000 in adults.  In cancers such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, all white blood cells are going to be increased.  However, the white blood cells that will be increased the most are your lymphocytes, primarily because when leukemia damages your cells your lymphocytes are going to activate your T cells to try and kill the infected cells. Another disease where white blood cells are going to increase is lymphoma. Lymphoma is often associated with an increase in white blood cells because it attacks your lymphoid organs, and once those are attacked, your lymphocytes are alerted, and your B cells are the cells that you’ll see a significant increase in.

After discussing the increase of white blood cells and what it’s associated with, let us discuss what the decrease of white blood cells means and what diseases are associated with it. Chronic granulomatous disease (CDG) is often associated with a decrease in the effectiveness of white blood cells because it strains your neutrophils so much that the phagocytic cells cannot generate the respiratory burst enough to kill bacteria and fungi. The term “respiratory burst “was initially coined by Baldridge and Gerrard in 1933 after discovering that neutrophils consume large quantities of oxygen phagocytosis (Rider, Jameson, and Creech, 2018). In this case, the white blood cells that are severely decreased are neutrophils and monocytes. CDG is one of the classic primary immunodeficiencies of childhood, the disease is diagnosed in most children in the first 1 to 3 years of life (Rider, Jameson, and Creech, 2018).  Neutrophils are important for phagocytic clearance of apoptotic cells, and dysfunctional CDG neutrophils can also promote hyperinflammation because of the impairment of normal inflammation resolution mechanisms (Rider, Jameson, and Creech, 2018). Whenever doctors discover that your white blood cells are not working as effectively as they normally do, or the count of them is low, CDG is something to look at.

Works Cited

·      Tamang, T., Baral, S., & Paing, M. P. (2022). Classification of white blood cells: A comprehensive study using transfer learning based on convolutional neural networks. Diagnostics, 12(12), 2903. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics12122903​:contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

·      Rider, N. L., Jameson, M. B., & Creech, C. B. (2018). Chronic granulomatous disease: Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and genetic basis of disease. Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, 7(Suppl_1), S2–S5. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpids/piy008