Steroid-induced hypersegmentation in neutrophiles.
The effect of glucocorticoid administration on the nuclear segmentation of circulating granulocytes was studied in 13 patients with hematologic disorders and in two normal volunteers. In seventeen of eighteen courses, the granulocyte nuclear lobe count increased from 3.24 +/- 0.12 (SD) to 3.41 +/- 0.12 by the third day of treatment (P less than .001). Nuclear segmentation increased even further with continued therapy during a week of observation. Thus, like deficiencies of folate and of vitamin B12, glucocorticoid therapy causes neutrophil hypersegmentation. The cause of this effect is not known.
D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D007964:Leukocytosis / Q000139:chemically induced; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D011241:Prednisone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011696:Purpura, Thrombocytopenic / Q000188:drug therapy; D011697:Purpura, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic / Q000188:drug therapy
D011241:Prednisone