title: Incidence and potential causative factors associated with chronic benign neutropenia in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Benign neutropenia often presents in certain populations without any genotype nor phenotype. Middle East countries are among the regions where endemic cases of chronic benign neutropenia are reported in the general population with an incidence of approximately between 10-15%. Not many studies have been performed to ascertain the cause or burden associated with this condition. The objective of the current study was to identify the frequency and characterize the consequences of chronic benign neutropenia in the country of Saudi Arabia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Benign neutropenia was found to be high in the Saudi Arabia general population (up to 20%), with an average neutrophil count of 1.48 (range 0.99 - 1.95 × 10(9)cells/L), with Saudis having a higher incidence of chronic benign neutropenia compared to non-Saudis (p = <0.05). Complete blood count analyses showed significant difference in the total white cell count of neutrophils (p < 0.0001), WBC (p < 0.0001), lymphocytes (p < 0.001), monocytes (p < 0.001), eosinophils (p = 0.013) as well as the CD19 B cells (p = 0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study is the first to carefully quantitate benign neutropenia in Saudi Arabia. We identified that this condition is prevalent in the middle aged population (18 years to 55 years). These individuals not only had lower neutrophil counts, but also reduced peripheral blood cells types, especially the B-lymphocyte population (CD19 subset). As B-lymphocytes are involved in antibody production and antigen recognition, a decrease might easily predispose the individuals to infectious agents. As such more mechanistic studies need to be undertaken to understand the cause and potential long-term consequences of benign neutropenia.
authors: Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia ; Centre for Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Mamdooh
authors: M
authors: Gari
authors: Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Mohammed
authors: M
authors: Dakhakhni
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Hematology, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Abdullah
authors: A
authors: Gari
authors: Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Erada
authors: E
authors: Alshihri
authors: Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Rowan
authors: R
authors: Al-Jahdali
authors: Centre for Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Kothandaraman
authors: K
authors: Narasimhan
authors: Biostatistics Unit at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors: Shen
authors: S
authors: Liang
authors: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Hematology, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Fatin
authors: F
authors: Al-Sayes
authors: Centre for Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Gauthaman
authors: G
authors: Kalamegam
authors: Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia ; Centre for Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Adeel
authors: A
authors: Chaudhary
authors: Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia ; Centre for Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Adel
authors: A
authors: Abuzenadah
authors: Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia ; Centre for Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, King Abdulaziz University PO Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Mohammed
authors: M
authors: Al-Qahtani