Monocytes

Monocytes are the largest circulating cells we will look at in this class. They are agranulocytic (NO granules) white blood cells (WBC). The nucleus can be kidney bean shaped or horeshoe shaped, or a number of other shapes, although those are the most common (this is known as pleomorphic). The nucleus is not segmented and appears as one mass. The cytoplasm is relatively abundant and has a gray-blue tinge to it, and has a somewhat "ground glass" appearance to it which could trick you into thinking there are granules when there are not. Sometimes vacoules are present, which appear as small round white dots within the cytoplasm.