An important role in the creation of antibodies in the human body is played by the plasma cell. It is about her that will be discussed.
Plasmocytes and their causes
So, more details. Plasma cells are a class of white blood cells that produce antibodies. They are formed from B-lymphocytes.
Some mistakenly believe that these cells are harmful formations that signal the presence of pathology. Plasma cells are the body's reaction to the action of external factors. They are constantly present in it: in the lymph nodes, in the spleen, and also in the bone red marrow.
A good specialist, having found plasma cells in a general analysis, will conclude that the patient has recently had one of the infectious diseases. And also that this virus is still in the body.
Plasmocytes arise as a result of infection, inflammation. B-lymphocytes enter the lymph nodes, where they transform into plasma cells, which produce antigen to fight infection.
Structure and functions
The plasma cell has a round or oval shape. Under a microscope, you can see the nucleus with heterochromatin. It is surrounded by cytoplasm. It contains a deviceGolgi. The rest of the cytoplasm has a dense structure.
Plasmocytes are part of the human immune system, their main function is to produce specific antibodies - immunoglobulins. At the same time, memory cells are formed that react to antigens (foreign and dangerous substances for the body) several months and even years after the first appearance.
If the same substance invades the body again after some time, the so-called "memory cells" immediately produce antibodies. However, they do not waste time recognizing the antigen.
The norm of plasma cells. Data about them in the analysis
A plasma cell in the blood of an adult should be absent. In children, it can be contained in a single amount (one or two per thousand others in the blood). In newborns, the rate of plasma cells should be one to two percent of such cells in the blood.
Also, the presence of these cells in the tonsils, in the mucous membrane of the nose, respiratory tract and stomach is considered normal. Thus, the doctor observes an increase in the level of plasma cells in the blood, and their decrease is not diagnosed, since this does not affect the state of he alth.
For analysis, blood is taken from a vein or from a finger. Since the second method is cheaper and easier, it is carried out much more often.
It is important for the patient to remember that it is necessary to take the test in the morning and on an empty stomach for maximum reliability of the results. The most effective is a complete blood count, as it allows you to identifyvarious blood diseases, as well as the reasons for the deterioration of the general he alth of the patient.
If there are many plasma cells
What in this case? Since it was said above that there are practically no plasma cells in the body, an increase in their number, of course, can affect the formula of leukocytes. It also indicates the presence of a pathological process in the human body. Excessive plasma cell content can be a sign of serious diseases. You need to pay attention to this. For example:
- viral diseases such as rubella, chickenpox, infectious mononucleosis (most common) and measles;
- occurrence of plasmacytoma (malignant tumor);
- tuberculosis, septic conditions, serum sickness, in which the antigen is in the blood for a long time;
- exposure to ionizing radiation;
- cancer.
It is important to remember that timely examination and treatment can save you many problems in the future. And also timely diagnostics will help the doctor to understand the cause of this anomaly.
