Macrocytic anemia

The term macrocytic is from Greek words meaning "large cell". A macrocytic class of anemia is an anemia (defined as blood with an insufficient concentration of hemoglobin) in which the red blood cells (erythrocytes) are larger than their normal volume. The normal erythrocyte volume in humans is about 80 to 100 femtoliters (fL= 10⁻¹⁵ L). In metric terms the size is given in equivalent cubic micrometers (1 μm³ = 1 fL). The condition of having erythrocytes which (on average) are too large, is called macrocytosis. In contrast, in microcytic anemia, the erythrocytes are smaller than normal.

In a macrocytic anemia, the larger red cells are always associated with insufficient numbers of cells and often also insufficient hemoglobin content per cell. Both of these factors work to the opposite effect of larger cell size, to finally result in a total blood hemoglobin concentration that is less than normal (i.e., anemia).

Macrocytic anemia is not a disease in the sense of having a single pathology but, rather, is a condition. As such, it is the class name for a set of pathologies that all produce somewhat the same red blood cell abnormality. Many specific pathologies are known which result in macrocytic-type anemias. Some of these produce slightly different sets of appearances in blood cells that are detectable from red and white cell morphology, and others are only detectable with chemical testing.

Types of macrocytic anemias

Megaloblastic anemias (DNA replication disorders)

Especially common causes of macrocytic anemias are the so-called megaloblastic anemias, in which cells are larger because they cannot produce DNA quickly enough to divide at the right time as they grow and thus grow too large before division. Causes of the DNA synthetic problem range from lack of certain vitamins needed to produce DNA (notably folate and B12), to poisons or inhibitors of DNA replication, such as some kinds of antiviral drugs and chemotherapeutic agents. Classically, these megaloblastic types of anemias are associated also with more specific features, such as megaloblasts in the bone marrow, the presence of ovalocytes in the (peripheral) blood smear, and the pathognomonic presence of hypersegmented neutrophils.

Red cell membrane disorders producing codocytes

Other disorders which cause macrocytosis without DNA replication problems (i.e., non-megaloblastic macrocytic anemias), are disorders associated with increased red cell membrane surface area, such as pathologies of the liver and spleen which produce codocytes or "target cells" which have a central collection of hemoglobin surrounded by a pallor (a thin area) then followed by a thicker collection of hemoglobin at the rim of the cell.

Alcohol

Round macrocytes which are not codocytes are produced in chronic alcoholism (which produces a mild macrocytosis even in the absence of vitamin deficiency), apparently as a direct toxic effect of alcohol specifically on the bone marrow.^[1]

Association with rapid red cell turnover and reticulocytosis

Mild macrocytosis is a common finding associated with rapid blood restoration or production, since in general, "fresh" or newly produced red cells (reticulocytes) are larger than the mean (average) size, due to slow shrinkage of normal cells over a normal red cell circulating lifetime. Thus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), in which red cells are rapidly produced in response to low oxygen levels in the blood, often produces mild macrocytosis. Also, rapid blood replacement from the marrow after a traumatic blood loss, or rapid red blood cell turnover from rapid hemolysis (G6PD deficiency), also often produces mild macrocytosis in the associated anemia.^[2]

See also

• List of circulatory system conditions

References