Heinz body

Heinz bodies ( Syn - Innenkörpcherchen Heinz, Heinz- Ehrlich bodies, Heinz- blue body ) are microscopically visible agglutination of the red blood pigment (hemoglobin ) in the red blood cells ( erythrocytes). Here, there is an oxidative denaturation of this protein. This altered hemoglobin forms clumps (aggregates ), which attach themselves to the inner cell membrane of erythrocytes.

Heinz- Innenkörpcherchen lead to direct damage to the erythrocytes or reduce their lifetime, since the modified erythrocytes are separated and broken down in the spleen. An exception are cats, as with them, the spleen is not apparently able to eliminate erythrocytes with Heinz bodies. In cats, therefore, Heinz bodies are not always associated with hemolytic anemia and a certain proportion of such modified erythrocytes in the blood physiological.

Occurrence

Heinz bodies are used in poisonings with all nitro and Anilinabkömmlingen, enzyme defects of erythrocytes ( eg, glucose -6- phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency ), α -thalassemia and hemoglobinopathies (eg hemoglobin Köln disease).