White Cells and Granulocytes

White blood cells are one of the components of our blood, along with red blood cells, platelets and plasma. Each of these components has a unique function in our body and in medicine.

White blood cells are continuously made in our bone marrow. They have a short lifespan of just one to three days.

The medical term for these cells is leukocytes. There are several different types of cells, including granulocytes, monocytes and lymphocytes.   

What Do White Blood Cells Do?

White blood cells help our bodies defend against disease in three ways:

1. By destroying harmful bacteria.
2. By creating antibodies against bacteria and viruses.
3. By fighting malignant disease.

Unfortunately, they can also cause harm to a person who receives donated blood. That’s because they may carry viruses that cause immune suppression and release toxic substances. To avoid these problems, white cells are often removed from donated blood and blood components before the donation is given to a patient.

What Are Granulocytes?

Granulocytes are the most common type of white blood cell. They protect against infection by surrounding and destroying invading bacteria. Unlike other types of white cells, they do play an important medical role: they can be used to treat infections that don’t respond to antibiotics.

How Many White Blood Cells Are in the Body?

These cells make up about 1% of the total volume of our blood. A person is considered to have a normal white blood cell count if they have between 4,500 and 11,000 white blood cells per microliter of blood. Or in more familiar measurements, that’s around 17 – 40 million white blood cells per teaspoon of blood!

• A person with a low white blood cells count is more susceptible to infections, because their body lacks resources for fighting bacteria and viruses. It can be caused by a vitamin deficiency, or by something more serious such as leukemia or lymphoma.
• A person with a high white blood cell count might be actively fighting an infection, since the body will produce more white cells to fight off invading bacteria and viruses. However, some blood cancers may also cause counts to rise.

How Do You Donate White Blood Cells?

Granulocytes are the only type of white blood cell that the Red Cross collects. Since granulocyte must be used within 24 hours, donations are only taken when a specific patient needs them. To be eligible to donate granulocytes, you must have donated platelets

Why Donations Are So Important

Our ability to provide lifesaving granulocytes to patients depends on having a steady supply of platelet donors. Every 15 seconds someone needs platelets – that’s about 2 million units of platelets being transfused each year in the U.S. Making a platelet-only donation means you help people who need platelets now, and may be able to help someone who needs granulocytes in the very near future!