Cyclical variation of leucocyte profile in healthy females: a comparison with males

Abstract

Aim of our study is to observe the cyclical variation of total WBC count in women and between men and women as sex hormones are having effect on these counts. Methods- A total of 56 girls and 74 boys have participated in the study, fingertip blood sample was taken to count total and differential WBC count, for boys only one sample was taken, for girls three sample at different phases like first sample on 2 ^nd or 3 ^rd day of menstruation, second during proliferative phase (around 8 ^th to 10 ^th day ) and third during secretory phase( around 22 ^nd to 24 ^th day). statistical analysis - Mann Whitney U test was used for comparing two independent groups. Comparison of study variables between different phases in girls was done by using Kruskal Wallis test. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant results. Results- Among women there is a significant high Total WBC count during proliferative phase compared to menstrual phase(p=0.002) and secretory phase(p=0.000). There is a significant high total WBC count and Lymphocytes in all the phases of women compared to men. Conclusion- there is a physiological variation of WBC count among women and also our study showed that significant variation of total WBC count among men and women can be attributed to the female sex hormones.