Jolly Bodies
Historical document, translated for reference. It reflects medical knowledge of the 1920s–30s and is not medical advice.
Summary
Jolly bodies are round granules found in red blood cells, visible with Giemsa staining as reddish-violet particles. They are considered remnants of fragmented nuclei and appear in large numbers after splenectomy, malignant anemia, and occasionally in infectious or toxic anemias.
Encyclopedia entry (1928–1936)
JOLLY BODIES, or Howell-Jolly bodies, round granules found in red blood cells, the size of micrococci, which stain reddish-violet with Giemsa stain [see separate plate (for article Capillaroscopy), fig. 15]. According to general opinion, they represent remnants of nuclei that have disintegrated through fragmentation. Jolly bodies are found in particularly large quantities in the blood after splenectomy; according to Hirschfeld, the cause of this is the removal of the influence of the spleen hormone that regulates the blood-forming activity of the bone marrow. Jolly bodies are also found fairly frequently in malignant anemia and occasionally in anemic conditions of infectious and toxic origin.
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“Jolly Bodies.” Soviet Medical Encyclopedia. English translation of Bolshaya Meditsinskaya Entsiklopediya, 1st ed. (Moscow, 1928–1936), ed. N. A. Semashko. https://sovietmedicalencyclopedia.pages.dev/article/jolly-bodies/