Reticulocyte
Peripheral blood smear, Wright-Giemsa stain, 1000x
Description
Upon exiting the bone marrow, the red cell is referred to as a reticulocyte. It still has some ribosomes and mitochondria, and continues to synthesize hemoglobin and probably other proteins. The reticulocyte is slightly larger than a mature red cell, the cytoplasm is grey to light blue in color, and no central palor is visible. Reticulocytes undergo final maturation, mostly in the spleen and emerge as biconcave disc-shaped red blood cells (mature red blood cell). A few reticulocytes are seen on a peripheral blood smear from normal subjects. Their number increases when the rate of red cell production increases. The reticulocyte count is a good indicator of the capacity of the bone marrow to produce red cells when the demand increases (e.g. anemia).
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Charles
E.
Hess,
M.D.,FACP [more information]
Professor of Internal Medicine
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