White Blood Cell Disorders and Platelets:: 3. Atypical Intracellular Granules

Alder- Reilly Anomaly

  • Large inclusions in leukocyte cytoplasm appear with Alder-Reilly syndrome. Inheritance patterns are not completely clear.
  • The condition is characterized by larger than usual azurophilic and deeply violet staining granules clustered throughout the cytoplasm (even covering the nucleus)in all granulocytes.
  • There are variations in which some lymphocytes and monocytes may be affected.
  • These inclusions represent partially degraded mucopolysaccharides within lysosomes.Alder-Reilly bodies may be found independently of genetic mucopolysaccharidoses as an inherited anomaly (Jordan's anomaly).
  • Cytoplasmic vacuoles of toxic origin are not present in Alder-Reilly cells.
  • The background condition in Alder-Reilly syndrome is mucopolysaccharidosis with various types of bone and cartilage disorders, reported first in gargoylism, then in Hunter and Hurler syndromes.
  • Accompanying conditions are hepatosplenomegaly, corneal opacities, and mental retardation.
  • Reference: Brunning, Richard D. Morphologic Alterations in Nucleated Blood and Marrow Cells in Genetic Disorders. Human Pathol: 99-124, March, 1970

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