Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusions in fetal leukocytes: are Auer bodies a
recapitulation of fetal morphology?
PE Newburger, TJ Novak and RP McCaffrey
Among the most striking morphological features of acute nonlymphoblastic
leukemias (ANLL) is the occurrence of eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusions
known as Auer rods on Auer bodies. We examined immature myeloid cells from
the peripheral blood of 9 human fetuses of 16-19 wk gestation for the
presence of such structures. Five of these 9 samples contained cytoplasmic
inclusions, which were identical to the Auer rods typically seen in blast
cells from patients with ANLL. The incidence of positive cells was low (1-5
cells/10,000 cells surveyed). The inclusions were azurophilic with
Wright-Giemsa staining and were cytochemically positive with peroxidase,
acid phosphatase, and Sudan black staining. We observed no inclusions in
identically prepared control myeloid cells from the bone marrow of 5
patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in remission and 3 patients with
chronic myelogenous leukemia in stable phase. Nor were they present in
peripheral blood myeloid cells of 10 normal adults. Myeloid precursors in
long-term bone marrow culture from 2 normal adult donors did not develop
the inclusions during 24 hr of incubation with prostaglandin F2 (the
abortifacient). These observations suggest that Auer rod formation is an
occasional but normal phenomenon in fetal hematopoiesis.
Volume 61,
Issue 3,
pp. 593-595,
03/01/1983
Copyright © 1983 by The American Society of Hematology
