Acanthocyte (from the Greek word acantha, meaning 'thorn'), in biology and medicine, refers to a red blood cell shape that has a spiny cell membrane , due to unnatural thorny projection. Similar terms are stem cells. Often they may be confused with echinocytes or schistocytes.
Acanthocytes have rugged, quirky, and varying crenations, resembling a multi-pointed star. They are seen in blood films, including abetalipoproteinemia, liver disease, chorea acanthocytosis, McLeod syndrome, and some other inherited neurological disorders, such as neuroacanthocytosis, anorexia nervosa, infantile pyknocytosis, hypothyroidism, idiopathic neonatal hepatitis, alcoholism, congestive splenomegaly, Zive syndrome , and chronic granulomatous disease.
Video Acanthocyte
Usage
Stem cells may refer synonymously to acanthocytes, or may refer to several sources to a specific subset of 'extrant acanthocytes' that have modified the spleen in which the loss of additional cell membranes has collected the spicules and the cells have become spherocytic. ('spheroacanthocyte'), as seen in some patients with severe liver disease.
Acanthocytosis generally refers to the presence of red blood cell types, such as can be found in severe cirrhosis or pancreatitis, but may refer specifically to abetalipoproteinemia, a clinical condition with acanthocytic red cells, neurological problems and steatorrhea. Specific causes of acanthocytosis (also known as abetalipoproteinemia, apolipoprotein B deficiency, and Bassen-Kornzweig syndrome) are rare, genetically inherited, autosomal recessive conditions due to the inability to completely digest dietary fat in the intestine as a result of mutations of the microsomal triglyceride transfer protein gene (MTTP).
Maps Acanthocyte
Pathophysiology
Acanthocytes arise from one of two mechanisms. Changes in lipid membranes are seen in abetalipoproteinemia and liver dysfunction. Changes in membrane structural proteins are seen in neuroacanthocytosis and McLeod syndrome.
In liver dysfunction, apolipoprotein A-II deficiency lipoproteins accumulate in the plasma causing an increase in cholesterol in red blood cells. This causes RBC membrane abnormalities to cause remodeling in the spleen and the formation of acanthocytes.
In abetalipoproteinemia, there is a deficiency of lipid and vitamin E which causes abnormal morphology of red blood cells.
Differential diagnosis
Acanthocytosis can be seen in: acute or chronic anemia, hepatitis A, B, and C, hepatorenal syndrome, hypopitutarism, malabsorption syndrome, and malnutrition of secondary acanthocytosis for malnourishment, such as anorexia nervosa and cystic fibrosis, remits with nutritional deficiency resolution. Cells such as selanth can be found in hypothyroidism, after splenectomy, and in myelodysplasia.
Acanthocytes must be distinguished from echinocytes, also called 'burr cells', which although crenated are not the same because they have large, small, and projected spiculation at regular intervals of cell membranes. The thorn cells usually imply uremia, but are seen in many conditions, including mild haemolysis of hypomagnesemia and hypophosphatemia, haemolytic anemia in long-distance runners, and pyruvate kinase deficiency. Thorn cells may also appear in vitro due to high pH, ​​blood storage, ATP depletion, calcium accumulation, and contact with glass. Acanthocytes should also be distinguished from keratocytes, also called 'horn cells' which have some very large bulges.
See also
- List of hematological conditions
References
External links
- Acanthocyte: Delivered by the University of Virginia
- Acanthocytes at the US National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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