rida
Forum Guru
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difference between heinz bodies and bite cells, what disease are they seen in?
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| Sakaki-
Forum Senior
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They are seen in G6PD deficiency and thalassemias. Heinz bodies appear when RBCs are stained by a supravital stain (ex. new methylene blue), and are not visible on a normal peripheral smear (stained by either Wright's or Giemsa's). They are denatured aggregates of hemoglobin with reduced solubility (have precipitated out). On the supravital stain, they appear as "darker" dots within the RBC and may project from the RBC.
Bite cells are visible in the peripheral smear as they are specific shapes of RBCs (they look like they have a bite taken out of them  ); they are formed when the splenic macrophages attempts to "pit" out these inclusions (since these RBCs have decreased deformability and become trapped in the spleen).
Hence, Heinz bodies and bite cells go together. They will be seen in any of the unstable hemoglobinopathies (ex. Hb Koln), G6PD deficiency (if subjected to oxidative stress first or taken from the patient in a hemolytic crisis), and in thalassemias (in which the abnormal hemoglobin precipitates).
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| Idiopathic
Forum Guru
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A bite cell is what happens after a macrophage took a bite out of a Heinz body (like Heinz ketchup).
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| rida
Forum Guru
Topics: 109
Posts: 721
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Good explanation guys!
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