Döhle Bodies
Other Known Aliases – none
Definition – light, blue-gray intra-cytosplasmic structures composed of agglutinated ribosomes most commonly found on neutrophils
Clinical Significance – These inclusions are thought to be the remnants of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and represent defects in cell production and maturation during granulocytopoesis. As a result, Döhle bodies are seen in patients with infection, inflammation, and/or high physiologic stress, but may also be seen in pregnancy.
History – Named after Karl Gottfried Paul Döhle (1885-1928), who was a German pathologist and received his medical doctorate from the University of Kiel in 1882. He joined the faculty at his alma mater (where he would remain for his entire career) as an assistant to Arnold Ludwig Heller in 1883. He was an introvert by nature and rarely attended medical conferences and published very little of his work, but was well-renowned across his university. His work with Heller on describing syphilitic aortitis was groundbreaking and what eventually brought him contemporary fame in the field of histopathology. He published his findings on his eponymous cells in an article in 1892
References
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- Bartolucci S, Forbis P. Stedman’s Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD; LWW. 2005.
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- Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com
- Up To Date. www.uptodate.com
- Döhle KGP. Vorläufige Mittheilung über Blutbefunde bei Masern. Zentralblatt für allgemeine Pathologie und pathologische Anatomie. Jena. 1892;3:150-152.
