Howell-Jolly bodies: a brief historical review

Abstract

Understanding the process by which red cell precursors lose their nuclei developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to the identification of nuclear remnants in circulating red cells in certain pathological states, particularly absence or decreased function of the spleen. William Howell, an American, and Justin Jolly, a Frenchman, were among a number of early contributors to this field. Early on, their names were applied, singly or in tandem, to these red cell inclusions, and the eponym, Howell-Jolly bodies, has stuck. It was, however, not until after the mid-20th century that Howell-Jolly bodies were clearly differentiated from basophilic stippling and that the mechanisms of their formation and removal from red cells were understood.