Comparative Ventricular White Blood Counts in Normal Guinea Pigs

Our plain-English summary of Comparative Ventricular White Blood Counts in Normal Guinea Pigs, by M. Dworski (1937).

The study

• Author: M. Dworski
• Published: 1937
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This was a laboratory study of 34 normal guinea pigs. The author compared white blood cells in blood taken from the right ventricle of the heart, before it passes through the lungs, with blood from the left ventricle, after it has passed through the lungs. No anaesthetic was used, because ether caused wide variation between samples. Differential counts used cells stained supravitally with neutral red. Total white cell counts were roughly the same in both ventricles. Neutrophiles were higher in right-ventricle blood in 73 per cent of counts. Lymphocytes were higher in left-ventricle blood in 77 per cent of counts. Monocytes were present in about the same numbers on both sides. Eosinophiles varied widely, with a slight retention of 18 cells per cmm per animal. In 10 animals, Kurloff bodies showed no correlation with eosinophile numbers. The author concluded that some neutrophiles may be removed and possibly destroyed in the normal lung, and that lymphocytes may enter the circulation within the lung. The study does not concern asbestos.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory animal study comparing paired blood samples drawn directly from the right and left heart ventricles, analysed statistically
• Who was studied: 34 normal guinea pigs of both sexes, with 300 blood counts from the two ventricles. A subgroup of 10 animals aged three to four months, with 36 counts, was used for the Kurloff body comparison.
• Exposure: None. The animals were normal and uninfected. No asbestos or other agent was studied. Blood was drawn by heart puncture without anaesthesia.
• Main results:
  • Total white blood cells per cmm were approximately the same in both ventricles and comparable to figures others reported for peripheral blood
  • Total white counts had the lowest coefficients of variation: 89 per cent for the right ventricle and 80 per cent for the left ventricle. Eosinophiles had the highest: 480 per cent and 493 per cent.
  • Neutrophiles were higher in right-ventricle blood than in left-ventricle blood in 73 per cent of the counts. This was an average retention in the lung of 667 cells per cmm per animal.
  • Lymphocytes were higher in the blood leaving the lung in 30 of 34 animals, an average increase of 863 cells per cmm per animal. They were in excess in left-ventricle blood in 77 per cent of counts.
  • Monocytes were present in approximately the same numbers before and after passing through the lungs, with an average retention of 47 monocytes per cmm for the group
  • Eosinophiles showed a slight retention in the lung of 18 cells per cmm per animal. Individual counts fluctuated markedly.
  • In 10 guinea pigs, no correlation was found between eosinophile numbers and Kurloff bodies in lymphocytes
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that at least some neutrophiles may be removed from the circulation and possibly destroyed in the normal lung, and that lymphocytes may enter the circulation within the lung
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author stated that the monocyte data were difficult to evaluate and did not show where the cell originates
  • The author noted that blood samples could be contaminated with pericardial fluid cells, particularly in animals punctured repeatedly
  • The author assumed, rather than tested, that the short time between taking the right and left samples did not matter

Browse return to medical research.