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Lymphopenia is a condition where there are not enough lymphocytes in the blood, caused by blood disorders or diseases. It can lead to immune system disorders and leave people prone to infections. Treatment varies depending on the cause.
Lymphopenia, also known as lymphocytopenia, occurs when there are not enough lymphocytes in the blood. This condition can be the result of several blood disorders or other diseases including Hodgkin’s disease and leukemia. Immune system disorders can also lead to lymphocyte deficiency.
Lymphocytes are one of the types of white blood cells used by the immune system. There are three types of lymphocyte cells. Lymphopenia does not always cause a decrease in all three types and often there is usually a deficiency in only one.
A decrease in T lymphocyte cells, called T lymphocytopenia, can cause many problems. When the cell count falls below 20% of the total lymphocyte count and there is no immunodeficiency disorder, the diagnosis is made. A low T lymphocyte count leaves people prone to developing pneumonia, cryptococcus, and other opportunistic infections.
B lymphocytopenia occurs when B lymphocyte counts are low, but other cell counts are normal. With this type of lymphopenia, the immune system cannot fight off antigens adequately because B lymphocytes are responsible for producing antibodies. This variation is often caused by drugs that suppress the immune system.
A rare form of this condition is natural killer (NK) lymphocytopenia. It occurs when natural killer cells are low and other lymphocyte levels are normal. Natural killer cells are part of the defenses of the immune system. They are responsible for destroying damaged and infected cells. With a natural killer deficiency, the absence or low amount of these cells allows the body to become overrun by infections, viruses, and cancers.
Hematopathology is an area of pathology that focuses specifically on red and white blood cells. Through this area of study, the scientists were able to determine that lymphopenia is a separate condition from pancytopenia and that it is limited to lymphocytes. Blood work shows that while pancytopenia is a decrease in red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells, lymphopenia involves only a decrease in white blood cells. In some cases, however, a lack of white blood cells can be a part of pancytopenia, depending on the cause.
Treatment varies. If the instance is mild and has no other conditions as a cause, the decrease does not need to be treated. Conditions such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and infections must be treated to raise lymphocyte counts. In a case where the lymphocyte count decreases due to chemotherapy or other types of treatments, the lymphocyte count generally increases without intervention as treatment time progresses or when treatment stops.
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