Platelets
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The cell at the center, with its lobed nucleus, is a neutrophil. The many red-orange discs throughout the field are erythrocytes. Scattered between them are anucleate, basophilic platelets, which are pinched-off from megakaryocytes in the bone marrow. They are basophilic, because they contain granules hold proinflammatory mediators, such as vasoactive amines. Platelets are one the earliest participants in an inflammatory reaction, where they clump and degranulate to release proinflammatory mediators. They are an excellent choice as an initiator, because they are immediately available in large numbers at any site where there is blood.