Brief Answer:
Presence of Howel- Jolly bodies may indicate problems with the spleen- details below

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to "Ask a Doctor 'service,

Howell–Jolly bodies are remnants of DNA in the red blood cells. Normally, when the red blood cells are produced in the bone marrow, they lose the DNA (the genetic material) and do not contain DNA when they are mature and released from the bone marrow to the blood.

Even in some cases, when some red blood cells do contain DNA, the spleen serves as a filter and kills them.
So, the presence of Howell–Jolly bodies in the blood may indicate a problem with the function of the spleen.

Another possible cause is anemia, especially if it is acute as happens in hemolytic anemia (when the blood cells are destroyed earlier than they should) or due to bleeding or other types of anemia. In these cases, the bone marrow is trying to produce a lot of red blood cells at a lesser time so more immature red blood cells may be released in the blood (cells with the DNA), which are beyond the capacity of the spleen to destroy them and are seen in the blood as Howell–Jolly bodies.

To conclude:
- Howell–Jolly bodies are red blood cells that have not matured completely (they have some DNA, genetic material)
- because the spleen is responsible to destroy such cells, they do increase if the spleen is not working properly
- also, they may increase if the bone marrow releases a lot of these immature cells, in cases of anemia or blood loss.

I hope this answers your query.
I remain at your disposal in case further medical assistance is needed.

Regards,

Dr. Antoneta Zotaj,
General and Family Physician

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