Leukocytes details
What Leukocytes shows
White blood cells, or leukocytes, normally stay out of the stool. When the lining of the bowel is inflamed or damaged, they can pass into it. This test uses a stain to look for leukocytes in a stool sample under a microscope, mainly when you have diarrhea, to help tell inflammatory from non-inflammatory causes. Finding leukocytes can point to an invasive bacterial infection, such as with Shigella or Campylobacter, or to inflammatory bowel disease. Their absence is common in viral or toxin-related diarrhea. The test is not very sensitive and white cells break down quickly in stool, so it is interpreted alongside stool cultures, calprotectin, and your symptoms.
Tests that include Leukocytes
The presence of leukocytes is an indicator of inflammation. Generally, inflammation is a product of bacteria-host interaction.
- Leukocytes Checks a stool sample for white blood cells, which can point to inflammation of the bowel lining, for example from invasive infections or inflammatory bowel disease.
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