Transcript Blood
BLOOD
COMPONENTS, PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS, AND VOLUME
Blood transports everything (nutrients, wastes,
and body heat)
Blood is a complex fluid connective tissue with
both solid and liquid components.
Solid – living blood cells (formed elements)
Erythrocytes (red blood cells –RBCS)
Leukocytes (white blood cells –WBCS)
Platelets (function in the blood-clotting process)
Liquid – nonliving fluid matrix (plasma)
An average blood sample (hematocrit) contains
(by volume):
55% plasma
45% RBCs
Less than 1% WBCs
Less than 1% platelets
Blood color varies from scarlet (oxygen-rich) to a
dull red (oxygen-poor)
Whole blood is slightly alkaline (pH 7.35 – 7.45)
8% of body weight
Total adult blood volume is about 6 quarts
PLASMA
Straw-colored fluid
90% water
Helps to distribute body heat evenly throughout
the body
Over 100 different solutes
(plasma proteins, nutrients, respiratory gases,
hormones, wastes, and products of cell metabolism)
Plasma proteins are most abundant solutes
Most are made by the liver
Not used for cellular metabolism
Composition varies continuously as cells remove or
add substances to the blood
Body organs make dozens of adjustments daily to
maintain solutes at life-sustaining levels.
FORMED ELEMENTS
Erythrocytes
Ferries oxygen in blood to all cells
Anucleate
Contain very few organelles
Contains iron-containing hemoglobin (Hb) protein to
transport oxygen
Lack mitochondria and make ATP by anaerobic
mechanisms
Small biconcave cells that provide a large surface
area relative to volume
Outnumber WBCs by about 1000 to 1
About 5 million RBC/mm³ (as the RBC volume
increases, blood viscosity increases)
The more Hb a RBC contains, the more oxygen it will
carry
Average of 12-18 hemoglobin per 100 ml blood
A single RBC contains about 250 million Hb
molecules
Each Hb can carry 4 molecules of oxygen
So each RBC carry about 1 billion molecules of oxygen
Leukocytes
Far less numerous than RBCs
4,000 – 11,000 WBC/mm³
The only complete cells in blood (contain nuclei and
usual organelles)
Helps defend the body against damage by bacteria,
viruses, parasites, and tumor cells
Able to slip into and out of the blood vessels
(diapedesis) to cause inflammatory or immune
responses
Leukopenia is an abnormally low WBC count
Can locate areas of tissue damage and infection in
the body
Respond to certain chemicals that diffuse from the damaged
cells (positive chemotaxis)
Following the diffusion gradient to pinpoint areas of tissue
damage
Gather in large numbers to destroy foreign substances or
dead cells
The body speeds up their production
Total WBC count above 11,000 cells/mm³is referred
to as leukocytosis
Indicates the presence of a bacterial or viral infection in the
body
Platelets
Not cells in the strict sense
Fragments of very large multinucleate cells called
megakaryocytes that rupture
Normal platelet count in blood is about 300,000/mm³
Needed for the clotting process
Write a paragraph/overview of what we learned
about blood.
Draw a picture and thoroughly describe each of
the solid/cellular components of blood (RBC,
WBC and platelets)
THIS IS DUE AT THE END OF THE PERIOD!!!
BLOOD CELL FORMATION
Occurs is red bone marrow
Flat bones of the skull and pelvis, ribs, sternum, and
proximal epiphysis of the humerus and femur.
Each type of blood cell is produced in different
numbers in response to body needs and stimuli
All formed elements arise from a common type of
stem cell ( hemocytoblast) in the red bone
marrow
Two types of descendents
1.
Lymphoid stem cell – produces lymphocytes
2.
Myeloid stem cell – produces all other classes of
formed elements
RBCs are unable to divide (anucleate) and have a
limited life span of 100 to 120 days
They begin to fragment and their remains are
eliminated by the phagocytes in the spleen and
liver
Lost cells are replaced more or less continuously
Developing RBCs divide many times and then
begin synthesizing huge amounts of hemoglobin
When hemoglobin has been accumulated, nucleus
and most organelles are ejected and the cell
collapses
The young RBC (reticulocyte) still contains some
rough ER but begins transporting oxygen
Within two days they have ejected the remaining
ER and have become fully functional erythrocytes
The process from hemocytoblast to mature RBC
takes 3 to 5 days
Platelet production is accelerated by
thrombopoietin
Rate of erythrocyte production is controlled by a
hormone called erythropoietin from liver and
kidneys
When blood levels of oxygen begin to decline, the
kidneys increase release of erythropoietin
Bone marrow is targeted and is stimulated to make
more RBCs
Excessive amount of oxygen in the bloodstream
depresses erythropoietin release and RBC production
Colony stimulating factors (a hormone) trigger
formation of leukocytes and platelets and also
enhance the ability of mature leukocytes to
protect the body
HEMOSTASIS
Stoppage of blood flow is fast and localized
Blood loss at the site is permanently prevented
when fibrous tissue grows into the clot and seals
the hole in the blood vessel.
Three phases occur in rapid sequence
1.
Platelet plug formation
Membrane is broken so endothelium and collagen
fibers are exposed to oxygen
Platelets become “sticky” and cling to the damaged
site
Platelets release chemicals that attract more
platelets
Platelet plug is formed
2.
Vascular spasms
Platelets release serotonin that causes the blood
vessel to go into spasms
Blood loss decreases until clotting can occur
3.
Coagulation
Injured tissues release thromboplastin (helps the
clotting process)
A platelet phospholipid interacts with
thromboplastin and Ca⁺ to form a prothrombin
activator
The activator converts prothrombin in the plasma
into the enzyme thrombin
Thrombin joins soluble fibrinogen proteins into
long hair-like molecules of insoluble webbing
Coagulation continued
Forms a meshwork that traps the RBCs and forms
the basis of the clot
Within the hour, the clot begins to retract, squeezing
serum (plasma minus the clotting proteins) from the
mass and pulling the ruptured edges of the blood
vessel closer together
Normally, blood clots within 3 to 6 minutes
Once the clotting cascade has started, triggering
factors are rapidly inactivated to prevent
widespread clotting
Eventually the endothelium regenerates and the
clot is broken down
Create a comic strip of hemostasis including
pictures and thoroughly descriptive captions.
DISORDERS OF HEMOSTASIS
Undesirable Clotting
Usually occurs in the legs
Clot that develops and persists in an unbroken blood
vessel is a thrombosis
May prevent blood flow if large enough
A thrombosis that breaks away from the vessel wall
and floats freely in the bloodstream is an embolus
Usually no problem unless/until it lodges in a blood vessel
Caused by anything that roughens the blood vessel
endothelium and encourages clinging of platelets
Slowly flowing blood or blood pooling is another risk
factor (especially in immobilized patients)
Bleeding disorders
Common causes are platelet deficiency, deficits of
clotting factors and genetic conditions
Thrombocytopenia results from an insufficient
number of circulating platelets
Normal movement causes spontaneous bleeding from small
blood vessels (petechia)
Hemophilia is a hereditary bleeding disorder
Lack of the factors needed for clotting
Minor tissue trauma results in prolonged bleeding and can
be life-threatening
HUMAN BLOOD GROUPS
Plasma membranes of RBCs have genetically
determined proteins (antigens)
Each of us tolerates our own cellular (self)
antigens
RBC proteins will be recognized as foreign if
transfused into another person with different
RBC antigens
Antibodies present in the plasma attach to
“foreign” RBCs causing RBCs to clump
(agglutination)
This leads to the clogging of small blood vessels
throughout the body
Foreign RBCs are lysed and Hb is unable to
deliver oxygen
Clogged vessels affect kidney tubules to cause
kidney failure, fever, chills, nausea, and vomiting
may occur.
Over 30 common RBC antigens
ABO blood groups are based on which of the two
antigens (type A or B) a person inherits
Absence of both antigens results in blood type O
Presence of both antigens results in blood type AB
Possession of either A or B antigen yields type A or B
blood, respectively
Rh blood groups are based on agglutinogen D
(originally identified in Rhesus monkeys)
Most Americans are Rh⁺ (RBCs carry the Rh
antigen)
If an Rh⁺ person receives Rh⁺ blood their immune
system begins producing anti- Rh⁺ antibodies
Hemolysis does not occur with the first transfusion
It takes time for the body to react and start making
antibodies
In subsequent transfusions, a typical reaction
occurs (patient’s antibodies attack/rupture donor
RBCs)
First time pregnant Rh⁺ women who carry Rh⁺
babies usually results in the delivery of a healthy
baby
Mother is sensitized by Rh⁺ antigens and forms antiRh⁺ antibodies
If she becomes pregnant again with an Rh⁺ baby, her
antibodies will cross the placenta and destroy the
baby’s RBCs
DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF BLOOD
Embryonic development of the entire circulatory
system occurs within 28 days
Embryonic blood cells are circulating in the newly
formed blood vessels around day 28
Fetal Hb has a greater ability to pick up oxygen (fetal
blood is less oxygen-rich than that of the mother)
Fetal blood cells are gradually replaced by RBCs that
contain the more typical Hb
Fetal RBCs are destroyed and the products are
released in the bile
If this happens at a rate faster that the immature
liver can handle, the infant becomes jaundiced
Write a journal entry as if you are a person
suffering from a hemostatic disorder. You must
explain your disorder and how you feel about
having that disorder. You may also portray a
doctor explain what to expect while telling a
patient that they have that disorder, are
pregnant with a child who has the disorder. This
is due at the end of the period!