Döhle bodies in neutrophils of a horse.

The study examines the occurrence of Döhle bodies, an anomaly usually seen in human neutrophils, in a horse suffering from chronic pleurisy, finding the same in about 80% of the neutrophils during an acute outbreak of the disease.

Research Overview

This article presents an investigation that focused on the presence of Döhle bodies, an abnormality usually found in human neutrophils (type of white blood cells), in a horse enduring chronic pleurisy, an inflammation of the tissues that line the lungs and chest cavity.

Key Findings

• The horse in question showed Döhle bodies in about 80% of the neutrophils in blood smears made during an acute flare-up of the disease. This is a significant finding as Döhle bodies are typically recognized as a characteristic associated with human neutrophils, particularly in instances of severe infection or inflammation.
• Each cell contained one to four Döhle bodies, which were located in the periphery of the cell’s cytoplasm. The size of these bodies varied between 1 and 3 micrometers, and they exhibited a rodlike or oval shape.
• The Döhle bodies stained blue with May–Grünwald–Giemsa (M-G-G) stain, a popular staining protocol used in cytology, confirming their presence and providing a method for their detection.

Complementary Research

• In an attempt to understand the prevalence of these bodies in horses, blood smears from 50 other horses suffering from various diseases were examined. However, the presence of Döhle bodies could not be demonstrated in any of these cases suggesting either a low prevalence or a specific association with pleurisy in horses.

This research contributes to the larger conversation surrounding the behavior of neutrophils in cases of extreme infection or inflammation not just in humans, but in veterinary medicine as well.