Distribution of Subsets of Blood Monocytic Cells Throughout Life.

Currently, it is well established that monocytes are a heterogeneous type of cell consisting of phenotypically and functionally distinct subpopulations found to be numerically altered in blood in patients with a wide variety of disease conditions, such as infection, autoimmunity, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and inflammatory disorders.1,2 Thus, 3 subpopulations of circulating monocytic cells have been identified based on expression of the CD14 LPS receptor and the CD16 low-affinity Fc IgG receptor: (1) CD14hiCD16− classical monocytes (cMos), (2) CD14hiCD16+ intermediate monocytes (iMos), and (3) CD14−/loCD16+ nonclassical monocytes (ncMos).