Sex Chromatin in Peripheral Blood Neutrophils and Sex Determination

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to review in what forms sex chromatin can appear in peripheral blood neutrophils and how sex determination can be done using sex chromatin appendages. Sex chromatin is an approximately 1 micron clump of chromatin seen usually at the periphery of female nuclei in certain tissues and called "Barr body" and as a drumstick in polymor phonuclear neutrophils nuclei in the blood smears. Sex chromatin is derived from one of the two X chromosomes in the female which replicates its deoxyribonucleic acid much later than the other and is thus positively heteropyknotic. In 1954, Davidson and Smith were the first to identify and report the presence of neutrophil drumsticks and nonspecific appendages and their differences in sexes. The inactive X chromosome in neutrophils appears in one of the five forms: drumsticks, racquet forms, sessile nodules, small clubs and minor lobes. Only drumstick appendage is sex-specific and considered for sex diagnosis. For sex determination, drumsticks are significantly higher in females than in males (p < 0.001).

A rare finding of double Barr bodies and X‐monosomy/X‐trisomy mosaicism in a dog with presumed idiopathic epilepsy

“…11 While all neutrophils in normal females should truly have a Barr body, drumsticks are usually visible in only low numbers of neutrophils, as they are often hidden or partially obscured by the nuclear lobes of the neutrophil. 13 The initial interesting finding, in this case, was the presence of double Barr bodies (drumsticks) in some neutrophils on a blood smear, which prompted further investigation. The presence of double drumsticks in neutrophils is documented in humans 14,15 and is associated with chromosomal abnormalities that ultimately result in the inactivation of more than one X chromosome.…”

“…Thus, drumsticks are considered sex‐specific, while the other appendages are not 11 . While all neutrophils in normal females should truly have a Barr body, drumsticks are usually visible in only low numbers of neutrophils, as they are often hidden or partially obscured by the nuclear lobes of the neutrophil 13 …”

Gender Disparities in the Coronal Suture Closure of the Cranium – A tool for estimation of sex

“…7 Still there are other methods like forensic serology for determination of sex to look for Bar Bodies and Davidson Bodies to label the deceased sex as female or male respectively. 8 Importantly these all methods are applicable in fresh dead bodies and would not be possible to determine it on decomposed dead bodies or skeletal remains 3,5,8 For that in skeletal remains or advanced decomposed dead bodies those are the bones one is left with to determine the sex of an individual on autopsy. Sex can be estimated from almost every single piece of skeleton 9 .…”

Pelatihan Verifikasi Jenis Kelamin Menggunakan Metode Barr Body dan Drum Stick

“…Kromatin seks pada mamalia menyebabkan terjadinya mekanisme inaktivasi kromosom X yang bertujuan untuk menyeimbangkan ketidaksamaan jumlah kromosom X pada pria dan wanita). Kromatin seks merupakan hasil kondensasi kromatin menjadi objek yang padat (Mikniene & Ivanauskaite, 2018). Kromatin seks dapat ditemukan pada sel epitel rongga mulut yang dikenal sebagai barr body dan pada leukosit wanita berbentuk seperti gendang yang dikenal sebagai drumstick (Ismaiel, dkk.…”