Ultrastructural study of periodic lamellar granules in human neutrophils

Granules consisting of periodically arranged membranous lamellae and amorphous electron-opaque material, i.e., periodic lamellar granules, are present in human neutrophils. To date, no extensive ultrastructural studies have been carried out on these granules because of their infrequent presence in neutrophils. The bone marrow of 18 cases of chronic myeloproliferative disorders, including one case of chronic neutrophilic leukemia in which periodic lamellar granules were frequently seen in neutrophils, was investigated by electron microscopy. Periodic lamellar granules were seen in neutrophils in 12 of the 18 cases at varying frequencies. They were preferentially seen in immature neutrophils. The transverse profiles of these granules revealed concentric complete/incomplete rings or periodic parallel straight lines, i.e., various patterns of lamellar arrangement were present. Periodic lamellar granules were positive for myeloperoxidase and lysozyme at the electron-microscopic level. These results suggest that these granules represent a primary neutrophil granule subtype. However, their functional and pathologic significance remains unknown.