page_title: Basophil
hierarchical_section_title: Basophil
caption_attribution_description: English: Basophil
context_page_description: Basophils are a type of white blood cell. Basophils are the least common type of granulocyte, representing about 0.5% to 1% of circulating white blood cells. However, they are the largest type of granulocyte. They are responsible for inflammatory reactions during immune response, as well as in the formation of acute and chronic allergic diseases, including anaphylaxis, asthma, atopic dermatitis and hay fever. They also produce compounds that co-ordinate immune responses, including histamine and serotonin that induce inflammation, heparin that prevents blood clotting, although there are less than that found in mast cell granules. It used to be thought that basophils that have migrated from blood into their resident tissues are known as mast cells, but this is no longer thought to be the case.
  Basophils were discovered in 1879 by German physician Paul Ehrlich, who one year earlier had found a cell type present in tissues that he termed mastzellen. Ehrlich received the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries.
  The name comes from the fact that these leukocytes are basophilic, i.e., they are susceptible to staining by basic dyes, as shown in the picture.
context_section_description: Basophils are a type of white blood cell. Basophils are the least common type of granulocyte, representing about 0.5% to 1% of circulating white blood cells. However, they are the largest type of granulocyte. They are responsible for inflammatory reactions during immune response, as well as in the formation of acute and chronic allergic diseases, including anaphylaxis, asthma, atopic dermatitis and hay fever. They also produce compounds that co-ordinate immune responses, including histamine and serotonin that induce inflammation, heparin that prevents blood clotting, although there are less than that found in mast cell granules. It used to be thought that basophils that have migrated from blood into their resident tissues (connective tissue) are known as mast cells, but this is no longer thought to be the case.
  Basophils were discovered in 1879 by German physician Paul Ehrlich, who one year earlier had found a cell type present in tissues that he termed mastzellen (now mast cells). Ehrlich received the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries.
  The name comes from the fact that these leukocytes are basophilic, i.e., they are susceptible to staining by basic dyes, as shown in the picture.
caption: 3D rendering of a basophil
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