Howell Jolly Bodies

These are nuclear remnants, left behind when the nucleus was extruded from the erythroblast. In normal individuals they are removed ('pitted') by the spleen, so that they are not seen in the blood. When the spleen has been removed, or is not functioning properly (hyposplenism), Howell-JollyBodies appear in the peripheral blood. In some conditions involving dyserythropoiesis, a sufficient excess of Howell-Jolly Bodies may be formed, so that even a normally functional spleen may be unable to remove them all, but this is rare.