blood system

• Blood


  A specialized body fluid that circulates, delivering oxygen, nutrients, and removing waste. It regulates body temperature. Carries antibodies and hormones.
• Main components of blood

  • Plasma
  • Erythrocytes
  • Leukocytes
  • Thrombocytes
• Total adult blood volume is about 5L (5.2 qt)
• Whole blood


  Can be divided into the liquid portion and the formed elements
• Composition of whole blood

  • Plasma
  • Formed elements
• Plasma


  About 90% water, the remaining 10% contains nutrients, electrolytes, gases, albumin, clotting factors, immunoglobulins, wastes, enzymes, and hormones
• Plasma function


  Removal of waste from cellular functions that help produce energy
• Plasma origin


  Made from the Reticuloendothelial cell of the liver
• Blood plasma


  The yellow liquid component of blood, in which the blood cells in whole blood are normally suspended
• Key proteins in plasma

  • Albumin
  • Fibrinogen
• Albumin


  Vital for maintaining a balance of fluid, called oncotic pressure, in the blood
• Fibrinogen


  Helps to reduce active bleeding, making it an important part of the blood clotting process
• Plasma donation is crucial for medical treatments and therapies
• Blood cells


  All blood cells are produced in red bone marrow
• Types of blood cells

  • Erythrocytes
  • Leukocytes
  • Thrombocytes
• Some WBCs multiply in lymphoid tissue alongside RBCs
• Erythrocytes (RBCs)


  Give blood its distinctive color and make up about 40-45% of blood's volume. RBCs are small, disk-shaped cells with no nuclei.
• RBC function


  Carry oxygen from the lungs and deliver it throughout our body. RBC also transports waste such as carbon dioxide back to our lungs to be exhaled.
• Hemoglobin


  Protein in RBCs that allows them to carry oxygen. Consists of a "heme" group containing iron and a "globin" group.
• RBCs are produced in our bone marrow where they typically live for about 120 days
• Erythropoietin (EPO)


  Hormone made in the kidneys that regulates the production of red cells in the bone marrow
• Leukocytes (WBCs)


  Responsible for protecting your body from infection. As part of your immune system, white blood cells circulate in your blood and respond to injury or illness.
• All WBCs show prominent nuclei when stained. They total about 5,000 to 10,000/mcL, but their number may increase during infection.
• Types of leukocytes


  • Granulocytes
  • Agranulocytes
• Granulocytes


  Granular leukocytes, have visible granules in the cytoplasm when stained
• Agranulocytes


  Do not show visible granules when stained
• Types of granulocytes


  • Neutrophils
  • Eosinophils
  • Basophils
• Types of agranulocytes


  • Lymphocytes
  • Monocytes
• Band cell


  An immature neutrophil with a solid curved nucleus. Large numbers indicate an active infection.
• Thrombocytes (platelets)


  Small, colorless cell fragments in our blood that form clots and stop or prevent bleeding.
• Thrombocyte origin


  Made in our bone marrow, the sponge-like tissue inside our bones.
• Thrombocyte formation


  Fragments of large cells named megakaryocytes, which form in bone marrow.
• Thrombocytes number from 200,000 to 400,000/mcL of blood.
• Thrombocyte function


  Important in hemostasis, the prevention of blood loss, which includes the process of coagulation.
• Thrombocyte clotting process


  When a vessel is injured, platelets stick together to form a plug at the site. Substances released from the platelets and damaged tissue then interact with clotting factors in the plasma to produce a wound-sealing clot.
• Coagulation


  12 factors must interact before blood coagulates. The final reaction is the conversion of fibrinogen to threads of fibrin that trap blood cells and plasma to produce the clot.
• Serum


  The plasma that remains after blood coagulates.
• Blood types


  Determined by proteins on RBCs, with ABO and Rh being the most common systems.
• ABO blood types


  • A
  • B
  • AB
  • O
• Rh blood types


  • Rh-positive (Rh+)
  • Rh-negative (Rh-)