Monocytes are a group of immune system cells that defend the body against foreign bodies, such as viruses and bacteria.They can be counted by blood tests called leukogram or complete blood formula, which brings the number of defense cells to the body.
Monocytes are produced in the bone marrow and remain circulating for a few hours, and go to other tissues, where they undergo a process of differentiation, receiving the name macrophage, which has different names depending on the tissue in which it is located: Kupffer cells, in the liver, microglia, in the nervous system and Langerhans cells in the epidermis.
- The increase in the number of monocytes.
- Also called monocytosis.
- Is often a sign of chronic infections.
- Such as tuberculosis.
- For example.
- In addition.
- There may be an increase in monocyte count due to ulcerative colitis.
- Protozoa infection.
- Hodgkin’s disease.
- Myelonocytic.
- Leukemia.
- Multiple myeloma and autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
The increase in monocytes usually does not cause symptoms, only noticeable in the blood test, the entire blood formula, however, there may be symptoms related to the cause of monocytosis and should be investigated and treated according to the doctor’s recommendations.the blood formula and what it’s for.
When monocyte levels are low, a condition called monocytopenia usually means that the immune system is weakened, such as in cases of blood infections, chemotherapy treatments, and bone marrow problems, such as aplastic anemia and leukemia.In addition, cases of skin infections, corticosteroid use and HPV infections can also lead to a decrease in the number of monocytes.
The appearance of values close to 0 monocytes in the blood is rare and, when present, can mean the presence of MonoMAC syndrome, which is a genetic disease characterized by a lack of production of monocytes by the bone marrow, which can lead to infections, especially on the skin.In these cases, treatment is done with medicines to fight infections, such as antibiotics, and a bone marrow transplant may also be needed to cure the genetic problem.
Reference values may vary from one laboratory to another, but generally correspond to 2 to 10% of total leukocytes or between 300 and 900 monocytes per mm3 of blood.
Changes in the number of these cells usually do not cause symptoms in the patient, who only experiences symptoms of the disease that causes the increase or decrease of monocytes.In addition, in some cases, the patient also discovers that there are some changes during a routine blood test.