Reticulocyte Diluting Fluid

Reticulocytes are juvenile red cells that pass into the blood stream from the bone marrow. Reticulocytes stay in circulation for about 24 hours and mature into erythrocytes. Reticulocytes have ribosomal and cytoplasmic remnants which picks up supravital stains when the stain is allowed to penetrate the cells while in the living condition. Following this process of supravital staining, a blood smear is made and the number of reticulocytes are counted against the number of red cells observed in the blood smear.