What to do if the level of neutrophils in the blood increases during pregnancy - methods of treating pathology

A blood test during pregnancy is a necessary procedure. It helps to promptly identify the development of fetal pathologies and prevent them.

Sometimes an examination shows that a woman has an increased number of neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) in her blood. This is a negative result, but there is no need to panic ahead of time. Not every deviation is dangerous, especially if the number of leukocytes differs only slightly from the standard.

What does an increase in neutrophils in the blood indicate?

It is very important for a pregnant woman to observe the quantitative composition of bodies and cells in the blood, especially for neutrophils, they should predominate among other types of leukocytes. Even a slight deviation in the blood can indicate pathology. Neutrophils are responsible for the state of a woman’s immunity, and their indicator can warn of the development of an inflammatory process in the body. During pregnancy, the quantitative composition may change slightly. This does not indicate the disease at all, so for an accurate diagnosis, doctors may prescribe additional tests:

1. Biochemical analysis.
2. Check the blood for thickness.
3. STIs are performed during pregnancy.

Why do humans need neutrophils?

Despite their neutral behavior in laboratories, neutrophils have very important functions. All leukocytes are a kind of army that must identify and destroy the saboteur. The enemy can be a virus, bacteria, or parasitic cell. Neutrophils are entrusted with the function of a killer - they must engage in phagacytosis throughout their existence, that is, destroy enemy cells after recognizing them. The factory of neutrophils, like other blood cells, is located in the bone marrow. Their lifespan is short - from several hours to a couple of days. Thus (remember that more than half of leukocytes consist of short-lived neutrophils), a process of continuous formation of these blood cells is necessary. Neutrophils undergo self-destruction during the fight against infection - their lifespan is greatly reduced, which means their consumption increases. A normal test should show up to 70% neutrophils in a blood smear when tested in a laboratory. These 70% of cells must be mature, healthy and capable of resisting infection. Such cells are also called segmented.

Band neutrophils are also distinguished - this is a subspecies of very young cells (even taking into account the generally short life of this subspecies of leukocytes). Normally, the laboratory technician should see their number in the range from one to six percent. A normal analysis should show that there are no “newborn” cells in the smear. This means that the embryonic forms, which are called myelocytes and metamyelocytes and are collectively called “young blood cells,” do not leave the bone marrow and quietly mature there to full development. All this is observed in a healthy body. But everything changes when an “enemy” invades the body - an infection, a virus, a bacteria. Then the balance is upset and all forces are rushed to defeat and destroy it. Morganism mobilizes and increases the rate of production of the necessary cells. Young cells do not have time to mature when they enter the body’s tissues; they have to go through all stages of development in an accelerated manner.

All these signals that something is going wrong in the body can be seen when a specialized expanded blood test is performed. At the conclusion of the laboratory, you can see strange concepts - “shift to the right” and “shift to the left.” Such standard concepts will be completely incomprehensible to the average person. Let's take a closer look at them. This formulation refers to the stages of development of our cell. First, the bone marrow creates a myelocyte, which then matures first into young metamyelocytes, then into a rod cell and, finally, into that very mature segmented cell. If the blood contains too many young forms, then they say that the formula is shifted to the left - that is, relative to our norm, there is a kind of redistribution with a bias towards the “left” young phases. In the opposite case, when there are too many mature cells in the tissues, that is, they either live longer than necessary or are produced in too large quantities, the formula is said to be shifted to the right.

Diagnosis of neutrophilia

You can find out whether neutrophils are elevated during pregnancy or not only with the help of a routine blood test. This procedure is known to everyone, it is practically painless and quick, and is carried out in any clinical laboratory. The patient will need to donate blood from a vein, preferably on an empty stomach. Laboratory assistants will count the number of bodies and cells under a special microscope. It is necessary to take the test correctly, so for several days you should not eat fatty and spicy foods, and you should not take any medications, alcohol or engage in physical activity. If neutrophils are very high in the blood, then the doctor prescribes a number of other clinical studies for the pregnant woman, these include: pelvic ultrasound, bacterial culture, urine and stool analysis, and also a tonsil scraping.

Based on the results, the doctor will be able to prescribe treatment. For a pregnant woman, it will be different from the treatment of an ordinary patient. As a rule, neutrophilia is directly related to the inflammatory process in the body, so antibiotics are prescribed for treatment, aimed at killing harmful bacteria. As prescribed by a doctor, a pregnant woman may be prescribed immunostimulants that will help strengthen the body's protective functions. In difficult cases, corticosteroids may be prescribed, which are considered hormonal drugs and have an anti-inflammatory effect. All medications must be prescribed by a doctor, taking into account the fact that the woman is pregnant. Self-medication is under no circumstances allowed, as this can harm not only the health of the expectant mother, but also the health of the baby.

Neutrophils during pregnancy: stages of cell maturation

There are 6 stages of maturation in the neutrophil life cycle. From the first to the fourth stage, “young” leukocyte cells are found in the bone marrow. In the period from the fifth to the sixth stage, neutrophils, already “old”, move into the bloodstream, where they fulfill their immediate purpose. If cells of the first four stages of development are found in the blood, then there is no doubt: the body is fighting a severe infection or there is a serious disorder in the function of hematopoiesis.

Types of neutrophils by stage of maturity:

• myeloblasts (primary fractions of neutrophils);
• promyelocytes (cells become overgrown with granules);
• myelocytes;
• metamyelocytes;
• band granulocytes;
• segmented granulocytes.

Neutrophils of the last two stages are the “oldest”. Segmented cells are the first to react to pathogen cells and usually cope with the danger themselves. But if the infection is severe, the segmented neutrophils are joined by band cells, and after some time, immature myelocytes and metamyelocytes. There are no last two types of neutrophils in the blood of a healthy person, since they fully mature in the bone marrow.

For reference. Rejuvenation of the blood, that is, the presence of immature neutrophils in it, is called a shift of the leukocyte formula to the left. When the leukogram shifts to the right, the blood ages: an increased content of mature segmented cells is observed in it.

What is the essence of neutrophilia?

If neutrophils are elevated during pregnancy, this means neutrophilia. This condition is considered normal for a woman if the deviations are not too large from the norm. The organism that develops in utero is initially foreign, in which case the immune system begins to actively produce killers - leukocytes - in huge quantities. This process must be regulated by a special hormone - prolactin. To avoid untimely birth or fetal loss, a woman must constantly monitor her health and be under the close supervision of specialists.

Is treatment necessary?

Therapeutic measures prescribed for pregnant women depend on the reasons caused by the deviations.

1. When the cell level is at the upper limit, there is no need for therapy. Thus, the mother's immune system responds to the development of the fetus. But with large deviations, medication support may be required.
2. Therapy of infectious diseases. Antibacterial treatment is used. Medicines are selected taking into account the woman’s current situation. Antibacterial medications should not cross the placenta. Doctors recommend using this kind of treatment only at the onset of the 3rd trimester, when all the baby’s organs are formed.
3. When a benign or malignant neoplasm is diagnosed, the woman is advised to terminate the pregnancy or have a premature birth.
4. Therapeutic measures aimed at eliminating injuries after they have occurred.
5. Control of endocrine disorders with the help of conventional medications that were used before conception. It is possible to adjust the dosage level.

Most medications can cause complications for the growth and development of the fetus or the woman's condition. Therefore, during treatment, ongoing diagnostic tests are carried out and the dosage of medications is adjusted.

During pregnancy, blood counts often change. An excess of neutrophils by a couple of units is a variant of the norm for the state of gestation. All methods of therapy must be agreed with the attending physician so as not to harm the fetus.

Functions of neutrophils in the body

Neutrophils are an important component in the blood; they can indicate the state of a woman’s immunity; highly elevated band neutrophils during pregnancy mean that there is inflammation in the expectant mother’s body. When blood analysis shows that such inflammation is occurring, this does not necessarily indicate an infectious disease. As a rule, a woman may not feel any symptoms, other indicators may well remain normal.

When a woman's segmented neutrophils are increased during pregnancy, this is normal, since all her cells become mature.

The concept of neutrophils, their meaning

By definition, band neutrophils are a type of leukocyte cell that is designed to protect the body from a variety of fungi and microbes. Neutrophils penetrate into those structures where pathogenic microorganisms are activated, there they destroy them and die themselves. In fact, band forms refer to immature neutrophils that are released into the bloodstream when infectious pathogens appear in the body.

When organic structures are in a healthy state and are not threatened, the content of band-type neutrophils is no more than 6% of the total leukocyte volume, while the group of all types of neutrophils makes up about 75% of all leukocyte cells. Neutrophils are able to engulf microorganisms through phagocytosis, which provides a neutralizing effect. Enzymes destroy bacterial pathogens, after which the stab blood cells themselves die.

The danger of abnormalities in the blood

If significant changes are noticed in the blood readings, this may indicate health problems. For a pregnant woman, all this can result in serious inflammation, a tumor, heart failure or stroke, and even poisoning, but the worst thing is that the expectant mother may lose her child.

If neutrophils abs. elevated during pregnancy, this may precede the possibility of miscarriage. This often becomes real when a lot of toxins enter a woman’s blood, which causes a hormonal imbalance and the woman’s body begins to independently try to cope with a problem that poses a threat to the life of the expectant mother.

What is the normal level of neutrophils during pregnancy?

Elevated neutrophils in the blood during pregnancy can be considered in two ways, for example, the result can be absolute or relative. Typically, the number of cells is measured per liter. In medicine, there is a generally accepted percentage of all leukocytes, so 1 to 5% of neutrophils can be considered normal. The norm for a pregnant woman can be equal to the value before pregnancy, but during gestation this norm may increase slightly. For example, the number of neutrophils can increase due to stress or intense physical activity in an ordinary person. In a pregnant woman, the norm is considered to be from 40 to 75% of segmented cells that are mature, and 6% that are immature.

Normal values ​​for pregnant women

In normal conditions, an adult’s leukocytes retain the ratio of components indicated in the table below.

Deviations in this ratio indicate various disorders in the protective function of the body.

The level of neutrophils is determined by two values:

Absolute – the number of cells per unit of blood. The examination results should correspond to 1.8-6.5 X 10⁹ per liter;

Relative – the proportion of neutrophils from the total volume of leukocytes is 48-72%.

During pregnancy, slight excesses of the norm are possible. The following indicators are considered non-hazardous to health:

Segmented nuclear type – 40-78%;

Immature cells – 1-6%, while the norm is 1-5%.

Physiological reasons for exceeding reference values:

1. Experienced stress;
2. Physical overexertion;
3. Eating a large meal before donating blood;
4. pregnancy;
5. menstruation;
6. solar radiation and exposure to cold.

The primary reasons for the increase in neutrophils in the blood during pregnancy

If elevated neutrophils during pregnancy rise to the level of 10X10⁹/liter, then this means normal. When this indicator exceeds the norm and amounts to 20X10⁹/liter, then, most likely, there is severe inflammation in the woman’s body; the more neutrophils in the blood, the more dangerous the disease can be. Let's consider the main reasons for the increase in neutrophils during pregnancy:

1. Consumption of preserved food that was unsuitable.
2. Bacterial inflammation affecting the respiratory system. For example, such diseases include tonsillitis, nephritis, tuberculosis, appendicitis.
3. Recent vaccination.

4. Necrosis of various types.
5. Intoxication of the body under the influence of alcohol or heavy metals.
6. Destruction of the tumor.
7. A disease caused by infection.

Prevention of increased neutrophils

When neutrophils are elevated in the blood during pregnancy, you should immediately contact your doctor with the test result, who will prescribe additional tests and conduct diagnostics of the whole body in order to identify the real cause of such deviations. During pregnancy, it is important to lead a healthy lifestyle, for example, try to reduce physical activity, avoid hypothermia and not take any medications that are not prescribed by your doctor.

Elevated neutrophils during pregnancy can cause illness caused by infection, so a woman should try to avoid crowded places during the peak incidence of acute respiratory infections or acute respiratory viral infections, because an infectious disease can negatively affect the development of the fetus, and medications should not be taken due to their contraindications for pregnant women . The expectant mother should be constantly monitored by a doctor so that she can monitor the level of neutrophils in the blood and respond in time to their increase or decrease.

It is important to remember that a slight increase in neutrophils in the blood during pregnancy is not a pathology; there can be a danger if such an increase occurs sharply, so you should constantly get tested and monitor your health and the health of your unborn baby.

Reasons for the downgrade

With a significant decrease, doctors talk about the formation of neutrophilia during pregnancy. The diagnosis is made based on test results when 1.6*109 per liter or less is detected in plasma. The main reasons for the decrease in these leukocytes are:

• complicated viral and infectious pathologies (influenza, rubella, measles);
• bone marrow pathologies susceptible to serious drug therapy;
• blood diseases (forms of leukemia, anemia, etc.).

During pregnancy, women are required to report their health to their doctor every time. And if you feel unwell, you should visit the residential complex unscheduled.