CHAPTER 10: BLOOD

BLOOD PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND

- the only fluid tissue, a type of connective tissue, VOLUME
in the human body 1. Blood Characteristics
FUNCTIONS OF BLOOD - sticky, opaque fluid
1. Distribution - heavier and thicker than water
- blood transports everything that must be - color range
carried from one place to another, such as: - Oxygen-rich blood: scarlet red
- nutrients - Oxygen-poor blood: dull red or
- wastes purple
- hormones - metallic, salty taste
- body heat - blood pH is slightly alkaline, between
2. Regulation 7.35 and 7.45
- maintaining normal pH in body tissue - blood temperature is slightly higher than
- maintaining appropriate body tempe- body temperature, at 38º C or 100.4 º F
rature 2. Blood Volume
- maintaining adequate fluid volume in the - about 5-6 liters, or about 6 quarts, of
circulatory system blood are found in a healthy adult
3. Protection - blood makes up 8% of body weight
- preventing blood loss COMPONENTS OF BLOOD
When blood is separated: 1. Plasma
- erythrocytes sink to the bottom (45% of - 90 % water
blood, a percentage known as the - straw-colored fluid
hematocrit) - blood composition varies as cells
- buffy coat contains leukocytes and plate- exchange substances with the blood
lets (less than 1% of blood) - liver makes more proteins when levels
- buffy coat is a thin, whitish layer drop
between the erythrocytes and - respiratory and urinary systems restore
plasma blood pH to normal when blood
- plasma rises to the top (55% of blood) becomes too acidic (acidosis) or
alkaline (alkalosis)
- plasma helps distribute body heat
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- includes many dissolved substances
Dissolved Substances
a. Water
- solvent for carrying other
substances
- absorbs heat
b. salts (electrolytes)
- Sodium, Potassium, Calcium,
Magnesium, Chloride and
Bicarbonate
- osmotic balance, pH buffering,
regulation of membrane
permeability
c. plasma proteins
- most abundant solutes in plasma
- most are made by the liver
- include:
- albumin: an important
blood buffer and
contributes to osmotic
pressure
- clotting proteins
(fibrinogen): help to stem
blood loss when a blood
vessel is injured
- antibodies (globulins):
help protect the body from
pathogens
d. nutrients
- glucose, fatty acids, amino
acids and vitamins
e. waste products of metabolism
- urea and uric acid
f. respiratory gases
- oxygen and carbon dioxide
g. hormones
- steroids and thyroid hormone are
carried by plasma proteins
2. Formed Elements
A. Erythrocytes
- red blood cells, or RBCs
- main function: to carry oxygen
- RBCs differ from other blood cell
- anucleate (no nucleus)
- contain few organelles
- lack mitochondria
- essentially bags of
hemoglobin (Hb)
- shaped like biconcave
discs
- normal count: 5 million RBCs
per cubic millimeter of blood
- hemoglobin is an iron-bearing
protein
- binds oxygen
- each hemoglobin
molecule can bind four
oxygen
- each erythrocyte has 250
hemoglobin molecules
- normal blood: 12 – 18 g of
CHAPTER 10: BLOOD
hemoglobin per 100 ml of
blood
Homeostatic Imbalance of Erythrocytes
- anemia: decrease in the oxygen-
carrying ability of the blood due
to:
- lower than normal number
of RBCs
- abnormal or deficient
hemoglobin content in the
RBCs
- sickle cell anemia (SCA): results
from abnormally shaped hemog-
lobin
- polcythemia: disorder resulting
from excessive or abnormal
increase of RBCs due to:
- polycythemia vera: bone
marrow cancer
- secondary polycythemia:
life at higher altitudes
- increase in RBCs slows blood
flow and increases blood viscosity
TYPES OF ANEMIA
Direct Cause: Decrease in RBC number
1. Hemorrhagic Anemia
- resulting from: sudden
hemorrhage
2. Hemolytic Anemia
- resulting from: lysis of
RBCs as a result of
bacterial infections
3. Pernicious Anemia
- resulting from: lack of
vitamin B12 (due to lack
of intrinsic factor required
for absorption of the
vitamin; intrinsic factor is
formed by stomach
mucosa cells)
4. Aplastic Anemia
- resulting from:
depression/destruction of
bone marrow by cancer,
radiation, or certain
cations
Direct Cause: Inadequate Hemoglobin
Content in RBCs
1. Iron-deficiency Anemia
- resulting from: lack of
iron in diet or slow or
prolonged bleeding which
depletes iron reserves
needed to make hemog-
lobin; RBCs are small and
pale because they lack
hemoglobin
Direct Cause: Abnormal Hemoglobin in
RBCs
1. Sickle Cell Anemia
- resulting from: genetic
defect leads to
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abnormal hemoglobin, - possess lobed nuclei
which becomes sharp and Types of Granulocytes
sickle-shaped under condi- 1. Neutrophils
tions of increased oxygen - most numerous WBC
use by body; occurs mainly - multilobed nucleus
in people of African descent - cytoplasm stains pink and contain
B. Leukocytes fine granules
- white blood cells, or WBCs - function as phagocytes at active
- crucial in body’s defense against sites of infection
disease - number increase during infection
- complete cells, with nucleus and - 3,000 – 7,000 neutrophils per
organelles mm3 of blood (40-70 % of WBCs)
- able to move into and out of
blood vessels (diapedesis)
- respond to chemicals released by
damaged tissues (ka positive
chemotaxis)
- move by amoeboid motion
- 4,800 to 10,800 WBCs per mm3
of blood
LIST OF LEUKOCYTES (from most to
least abundant)
• Neutrophils
• Lymphocytes
• Monocytes
• Eosinophils
• Basophils
TYPES OF LEUKOCYTES
1. Granulocytes
- granules in their cytoplasm can be
stained