7.2

• The most significant elements of plasma are albumin,
• albumin, a plasma protein responsible for osmotic pressure and transport of many types of molecules;
• immunoglobulins, or antibodies, which are important parts of the immune system;
• Fibrinogen - responsible for blood clotting.
• transferrin - which carries iron.
• complement - a group of immune system proteins that, when activated, destroy target cells by puncturing their membranes.
• Electrolytes include the major ions of plasma.
• All blood cells are formed in the bone marrow from the division of long-lived progenitors called stem cells.
• An average adult has 5 to 6 L of blood.
• Plasma constitutes 55% of the volume of blood.
• Plasma - It is 90% water, with the rest made up of dissolved

  proteins, amino acids, gases, electrolytes, sugars, hormones, lipids, and vitamins, plus waste products.
• an anticoagulant, a chemical that keeps blood from clotting.
• The plasma is the straw-to-yellow color fluid that floats on top of the cells in the sample.
• Plasma

  light blue, royal blue, pink, pearl, gray, green, light green, or tan.
• These samples are collected in a green-top tube.
• They are also used for coagulation tests, which are

  collected in a blue-top tube.
• Serum samples are collected in tubes with a top that is one of these colors: 


  orange, royal blue, red, gold, or tiger-speckled (red and gold).
• The formed elements constitute 45% of blood volume.
• FE

  Of these, 99% are red blood cells (RBCs), with white blood cells (WBCs) and platelets making up the rest.
• There are 5 million RBCs in a microliter (mL) of whole blood.
• An RBC initially contains a cell nucleus, but this is expelled

  shortly after formation, at which stage the RBC is known as a reticulocyte.
• The reticulocyte count, a common laboratory test, provides the physician with an indirect measure of how well the bone marrow is producing RBCs.
• Once released into the peripheral circulation, within a day or two, it

  matures into an erythrocyte.
• A single RBC remains in the peripheral circulation about 120 days before being removed by the liver, bone marrow, or spleen.
• RBC destruction results in three major breakdown products: iron,

  amino acids, and bilirubin.
• The iron and amino acids are recycled.
• The only waste product, bilirubin, is transported to the liver for elimination from the body.
• The iron-containing heme groups are recycled to make new hemoglobin for packing into new RBCs.
• White blood cells or leukocytes protect the body against infection.
• WBCs are produced in the bone marrow and lymph nodes and undergo a complex maturation process, which may involve

  the thymus and other organs.
• There are 5000-10,000 WBCs in 1 mL of whole blood.
• At any time, most WBCs are not in the blood but in the peripheral tissues and lymphatic system.
• An important feature of all WBCs is their ability to recognize specific molecules on the surface of infectious agents and to distinguish them from markers on the body’s own cells.
• Granulocytes get their name because of the presence of visible

  granules in their cytoplasm.
• The granulocytes include neutrophils-eosinophils-basophils.
• Mononuclear leukocytes have larger, unsegmented nuclei.
• They all contain powerful chemicals that destroy foreign cells and signal other parts of the immune system - ML
• Neutrophils, so called because their granules do not take up either acidic or basic dyes.
• Neutrophils make up 40% to 60% of all leukocytes in the blood
• Neutrophils - They are phagocytes, whose role is to attack and digest bacteria, and their numbers increase during a bacterial infection.