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Giant Myeloid Cells in the Bone Marrow of Protein Malnourished Infants: Relationship to Folate and Vitamin B 12 Nutrition
Author(s) -
Spector I.,
Metz J.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1966.tb00160.x
Subject(s) - myeloid , megaloblastic anemia , bone marrow , vitamin , medicine , rickets , physiology , immunology , biology , vitamin b12 , vitamin d and neurology
F rank megaloblastic anaemia is well recognized in protein malnourished infants (Altmann and Murray, 1948; Adams, 1954; Walt, Holman and Hendrickse, 1956; Shnier and Metz, 1959; Kho and Tumbelaka, 1960; Macdougall, 1960; MacIver and Back, 1960; Velez, Ghitis, Pradilla and Vitale, 1963). In 1948, Altmann and Murray noted that in this syndrome, giant myeloid cells may occur in the bone marrow without megaloblasts, a finding subsequently confirmed by other workers (Walt et al. , 1956; Macdougall, 1960; Sandstead, Gabr, Azzam, Shuky, Weiler, El Din, Mokhtar, Prasad, El Hifney and Darby, 1965). These giant myeloid cells have been regarded as diagnostic of deficiency of haemopoietic factor (liver principle) as are megaloblasts themselves (Foy, Kondi and Murray, 1946; Zuelzer and Ogden, 1946). Zuelzer, Newhall and Hutaff (1947) postulated that giant myeloid cells were the earliest morphological sign of such deficiency, a view accepted by others (Foy, Kondi and Hargreaves, 1950; Luhby, 1959; MacIver and Back, 1960; Dawson and Bury, 1961), so that these cells are regarded as a sensitive index of early megaloblastic change. Since these views were expressed, serum levels of the anti‐megaloblastic factors, vitamin B 12 and folate, have gained wide acceptance as sensitive indices of body nutrition of these vitamins (Spray and Witts, 1958; Herbert, Baker, Frank, Pasher, Sabotka and Wasserman, 1960; Waters and Mollin, 1961). The present study of protein malnourished infants was undertaken to determine the relationship between giant myeloid cells in the bone marrow and folate and vitamin B 12 nutrition, by measuring the serum levels of these vitamins and observing the effect of their administration on the presence of these cells in the marrow. As iron deficiency has been shown to be a factor in the development of giant myeloid cells in the marrows of pregnant patients (Chanarin, Rothman and Berry, 1965), the marrow films were also examined for a possible correlation between diminished amounts of stainable iron and the presence of giant myeloid cells.