Blood Smear Analysis Essay

With blood smear analysis they were able to see that the mice studied showed the same effects expected to see in thalassemic patients. Red blood cell count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, red cell distribution had all decreased significantly were as reticulocytes, which are immature red blood cells without a nucleus in thalassemic mice when compared to the wild type. Using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, they found that in the trabecular sites such as the femoral metaphysis, tibial metaphysis, and the L5-6 vertebrae but not in the cortical sites. Using bone histomorphometry, microscopic changes were then looked at specifically in the tibial metaphysis. They found that there was a narrowing in new formed bones using a calcium chelating agent that fluoresces green. They also found that there was a marked loss of calcified tissue with marrow expansion in the tibial secondary spongiosa of thalassemic …show more content…
Upon looking at the concentration levels of both osteoclast and osteoblast, there was a significant decrease in functional osteoblast, which help with new bone formation, and an accelerated increase in osteoclast formation (Kilbarger, …show more content…
Another study done by Thongchote and his associates has tested to see if running activities in mice can ameliorate bone mineral density and compensate for the microstructural differences in thalassemic mice versus thalassemic mice that do not have any running activity and are not very active. They wanted to determine the age and sex dependent changes in bone mineral density, bone mineral content, and bone microstructural changes in thalassemic mice using dual x ray absorptiometry and bone histomorphometry. They also wanted to determine if running exercises could alleviate the thalassemic induced bone loss and microstructural defect in thalassemic