SearchExclusive.com

Our Invaluable Friends – Neutrophils

Our invaluable friends – Neutrophils
Multicellular organisms evolved from unicellular organisms over thousands of years. They also continue their fight against pathogens even now. Their friend and associate in this fight are the neutrophils. These are phagocytes evolved as specialized cells that engulf and kill the invading microorganism like bacteria. By and large, they are not effective against viruses. These specialized cells are there only, in higher animals. Animals, like insects, depend on the innate immune cells. The neutrophils’ count consists of 50% to 70% of white corpuscles that are the backbone of the immune system.

What are neutrophils?

Neutrophils are formed in the bone marrow, the soft spongy tissue in the middle cavities of long bones and in the dense hip bones. Bone marrow forms these cells from the stem cell present in the marrow in abundance.
They, along with basophils and eosinophils, have the common characteristics of having lobed nuclei and grouped as polymorphonuclear cells.
Neutrophils are so named for their staining characteristics, that is, they get stained as a neutral pink color.
50% to 60% of the bone marrow is reserved for forming neutrophils.
40% to 70% is the normal range of neutrophils in the circulating blood.

What is the condition called low neutrophils like?

There are medical conditions that cause a lower than normal Neutrophils count. This condition is called neutropenia.
There are quite a few medical conditions that can cause the low neutrophils condition.
Some are congenital and others are infections.

What are the conditions that lead to neutropenia or low neutrophils?

Congenital conditions that cause neutropenia are Kostmann’s syndrome and myelokathexis.
Low neutrophils is also induced by medication or therapeutics are radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
Infections like tuberculosis, typhoid, hepatitis A, B, C, HIV and AIDs, viral infections, malaria, and vitamin B12 deficiency all cause this condition.
Sepsis is a condition that overwhelms the system by using up more neutrophils than the body can produce, leading to low neutrophils.
Other conditions like leukemia, hypersplenism, antibiotics, and certain other medication and autoimmune disorders cause destruction of neutrophils in the blood, leading to neutropenia or low neutrophils.

What are the helpful functions of Neutrophils?

The main function of Neutrophils is to fight bacterial infections.
They do so by migrating through the walls of the blood vessels and then through the interstitial tissue, after which they reach the site of infection.
The average size of these cells when they are adhered to the walls of the blood vessel is of the order of 8 to 15 microns, and only 8 microns when suspended in blood.
They are very motile and are deployed to the sites of infection or inflammation in a matter of minutes.
The process of migration consists of two steps. The preliminary one is the development of pseudopodia, like one associates with amoeba.
The pseudopodia are rich in receptors that are very sensitive to chemicals produced by the cells at the site of the infection or inflammation. The entire process is called chemotaxis.
Recent research has found another mechanism called Neutrophils swarming. This is a highly coordinated process, where the neutrophils communicate with other cells of the immune system.

How do they conquer the invaders and eliminate them?

Here, again the pseudopodia, meaning false foot, are instrumental.
These pseudopodia surround the bacteria and kill them with very powerful chemicals and a process called degranulation.
The neutrophils deploy a closely woven net of chromatin and another powerful antibacterial chemical called NET, Neutrophil External Trap.
These NETs trap bacteria and kill them. This is independent of the pseudopodial bactiorophaging.
These NETs provide a very high concentration of bactericides.

Do neutrophils have any role in autoimmune diseases?

The role of neutrophils in tissue destruction is well documented.
Modern research indicates that neutrophils play an active role in promoting inflammation in autoimmune disease conditions.
In recent studies of atherosclerosis, it has been found that neutrophils actively take part in lesion development and weaken the fibrous cap of the lesion.
Greater complex roles, not suspected earlier, are revealed by modern research. It is now appreciated that a major source of autoantigens is neutrophils.

Related Reading

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Most of the dogs do not have a food fuss and may eat almost anything that you feed them. Dogs are not choosy at all when it comes to food and nutrition. Hence, it is important to make sure that the food that you are purchasing for your dog is healthy. The landscape of dog food has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent times. There is a wide variety of options to choose from in the online and offline market. Given the wide range of options that are available today, buying the best dog food might seem to be a confusing task indeed. All the commercial pet food that is available in the market today is regulated by the FDA. Therefore, most of the products do contain nutritious, healthy, and safe ingredients. But it does help to know certain basic factors you should look for while buying food for your dog. Prioritize on the nutritional guarantee The best dog food, which meets the dog’s needs adequately has a statement written on the label of the product, from the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Buy from some of the best dog food brands, such as Fromm Family Foods, Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and The Honest Kitchen.

Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

The most important aspect when designing your kitchen is deciding on the type of cabinets. In addition to functionality, kitchen cabinets score on aesthetics as well. Once the layout is planned, you can go ahead with choosing the cabinets. If you’re remodeling your home or just the kitchen, what you need to consider are the types of cabinets that furnish your kitchen. Here are a few types of kitchen cabinets that you can choose from. Base cabinets These kitchen cabinets are mounted on the floor and they are placed after checking out the floor plan. A major part of your job in the kitchen is on these base cabinets, which hold and support the countertops. These base cabinets are combined to carve out kitchen islands. A number of base cabinets are fused/set against one another and installed on site. The base cabinets, in addition to supporting the countertops, serve as drawers to hold your cutlery and appliances. Wall cabinets Mounted on the walls, these cabinets can store everything, right from your cookware to cookbooks. In terms of design, they offer utmost flexibility. Wall cabinet kitchen is available in varying heights, multiple widths, and custom depth options. This customization helps you to fit in your stuff of varying shapes and sizes into the wall cabinets.

How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

In today’s world, where you are presented with over a dozen choices for every item you would purchase for your own kitchen, it is not surprising that you have an equal number of options for your dog’s food. However, choosing the perfect brand and formula for your dog out of a range of options in the market is not an easy job. Your pet depends on you and trusts you to make the right choice for them. Therefore, it is imperative that you do your research about the products available in the market, understand what your dog needs, know what might be your pet’s problems, and then make a sound decision. What is a sensitive stomach? Dogs are known to have voracious and large appetites. Keeping that in mind, it is normal to assume that they have strong stomachs. They can eat close to anything be it sweets, bakes, chewy gum, hard leather or even woolen socks for that matter! It always so happens that the strongest of them are prone to allergies and can develop a disorder which is medically translated as a sensitive stomach. This might be due to a sudden change in the food habits or even due an infection picked up from somewhere.

All You Need to Know about Cat Food

For cat owners, cat food is a hot topic. You need to think about it in different aspects. The best thing is to know which ingredients are good for cat food and which are harmful. If you are aware of this, you can get an idea about the quality of the cat food just by going through the label. It is always sensible to stick to one brand of cat food. However, you may also want to try and prepare cat food yourself. There are also various options for wet cat food as well. Cat’s love for fish is universal, so you can do without going for expensive cat food. Nevertheless, whether you buy it or prepare cat food at home, you need to ensure that the food contains enough nutrition and calories. You would need to have some idea about the ingredients that must be present in cat food and make a worthy selection for your cat. Basic ingredients present in good cat foods Cats need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy and active; they need various vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and oils. The following is a brief explanation of the basic ingredients that should be present in cat foods.