CHAPTER 10 - Blood pH is slightly alkaline, between 7.

35
and 7.45
Blood
- Blood temperature is slightly higher than
• Blood transports everything that must be carried body temperature, at 38°C or 100.4°F
from one place to another through blood vessels,
• BLOOD VOLUME
such as:
- About 5–6 liters, or about 6 quarts, of blood
- Nutrients
are found in a healthy adult
- Wastes
- Blood makes up 8 percent of body weight
- Hormones
- Body heat Plasma
Components of Blood ▪ 90 percent water
▪ Straw-colored fluid
• Blood is the only fluid tissue, a type of connective
▪ Includes many dissolved substances
tissue, in the human body
- Nutrients
• Components of blood - Salts (electrolytes)
- Respiratory gases
1. Formed elements (living cells) - Hormones
2. Plasma (nonliving fluid matrix) - Plasma proteins
• When blood is separated: - Waste products

- Plasma rises to the top (55 percent of • PLASMA PROTEINS

blood) (salts/minerals, water, proteins) – Most abundant solutes in plasma
- Erythrocytes, or red blood cells, sink to the – Most are made by the liver
bottom (45 percent of blood, a percentage – Include:
known as the hematocrit)
- Buffy coat contains leukocytes, or white ▪ Albumin — an important blood buffer and
blood cells, and platelets (less than 1 percent contributes to osmotic pressure
of blood)
▪ Clotting proteins — help to stem blood loss when
o Buffy coat is a thin, whitish layer
a blood vessel is injured
between the erythrocytes and plasma
- Centrifugation is a method of separating ▪ Antibodies — help protect the body from
molecules having different densities by pathogens
spinning them in solution around an axis (in
Formed Elements
a centrifuge rotor) at high speed
▪ Erythrocytes
The Composition of Blood
- Red blood cells (RBCs)
▪ Leukocytes
- White blood cells (WBCs)
▪ Platelets
- Cell fragments
Photomicrograph of a Blood Smear

Physical Characteristics and Volume

• BLOOD CHARACTERISTICS
- Sticky, opaque fluid
- Heavier and thicker than water
- Color range ▪ ERYTHROCYTES (red blood cells, or RBCs)
o Oxygen-rich blood is scarlet red - Main function is to carry oxygen
o Oxygen-poor blood is dull red or - RBCs differ from other blood cells
purple o Anucleate (no nucleus)
- Metallic, salty taste o Make ATP by anaerobic means
o Essentially “bags” of hemoglobin (Hb)
 o Shaped like biconcave discs • List of the WBCs, from most to least abundant
- Normal count is 5 million RBCs per cubic
– Neutrophils
millimeter 3 (mm ) of blood
– Lymphocytes
- Hemoglobin is an iron-bearing protein
– Monocytes
o Binds oxygen
– Eosinophils
o Each hemoglobin molecule can bind 4
– Basophils
oxygen molecules
o Each erythrocyte has 250 million hemoglobin • Easy way to remember this list
molecules
o Normal blood contains 12 – 18 grams of – Never
hemoglobin per 100 milliliters (ml) of blood – Let
– Monkeys
• Homeostatic imbalance of RBCs – Eat
– Bananas
- Anemia is a decrease in the oxygen-carrying
ability of the blood due to: GRANULOCYTES
• Lower-than-normal number of RBCs
• Abnormal or deficient hemoglobin content in Neutrophils
the RBCs - Most numerous WBC
- Sickle cell anemia (SCA) results from - Multilobed nucleus
abnormally shaped hemoglobin; single amino - Cytoplasm stains pink and contains fine granules
acid change in beta chain of hemoglobin - Function as phagocytes at active sites of
- Polycythemia - disorder resulting from infection
excessive or abnormal increase of RBCs due to: - Numbers increase during infection
o Bone marrow cancer (polycythemia vera) - 3,000–7,000 neutrophils per 3 mm of blood (40–
o Life at higher altitudes (secondary 70 percent of WBCs)
polycythemia)
- Increase in RBCs slows blood flow and Eosinophils
increases blood viscosity
- Nucleus stains blue-red
• LEUKOCYTES (white blood cells, or WBCs) - Brick-red cytoplasmic granules
- Function is to kill parasitic worms; play a role in
- Crucial in body’s defense against disease allergy attacks
- Complete cells, with nucleus and organelles - 100–400 eosinophils per 3 mm of blood (1–4
- Able to move into and out of blood vessels percent of WBCs)
(diapedesis)
- Respond to chemicals released by damaged Basophils
tissues (known as positive chemotaxis)
- Rarest of the WBCs
- Move by amoeboid motion by forming
- Large histamine-containing granules that stain
cytoplasmic extensions to help them move
dark blue to purple
- 4,800 to 10,800 WBCs per 3 mm of blood
- Contain heparin (anticoagulant)
• Homeostatic imbalance of WBCs - 20–50 basophils per 3 mm of blood (0–1 percent
of WBCs)
- Leukocytosis - Normal response to an infection
but excessive production of abnormal WBCs AGRANULOCYTES
during infectious mononucleosis or leukemia is
Lymphocytes
pathological
- Leukopenia - Abnormally low WBC count; - Large, dark purple nucleus
Commonly caused by certain drugs, such as - Slightly larger than RBCs
corticosteroids and anticancer agents - Reside in lymphatic tissues
- Leukemia - Bone marrow becomes cancerous; - Play a role in immune response
Numerous immature WBC are produced - 1,500–3,000 lymphocytes per 3 mm of blood
(20–45 percent WBCs)
• Types of leukocytes
Monocytes
1) Granulocytes
- Granules in their cytoplasm can be stained - Largest of the white blood cells
- Possess lobed nuclei - Distinctive U- or kidney-shaped dark purple
- Include neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils nucleus
2) Agranulocytes - Function as macrophages when they migrate
- ▪ Lack visible cytoplasmic granules into tissues
- ▪ Nuclei are spherical, oval, or kidney-shaped - Important in fighting chronic infection
- ▪ Include lymphocytes and monocytes - 100–700 monocytes per 3 mm of blood (4–8
percent of WBCs)
 PLATELETS
- Fragments of megakaryocytes (multinucleate
cells)
- Needed for the clotting process
- Normal platelet count is 300,000 platelets per 3
mm of blood
HEMATOPOIESIS (Blood Cell Formation)
- Hematopoiesis is the process of blood cell
formation Figure 10.4 Mechanism for Regulating the Rate
- Occurs in red bone marrow (myeloid tissue) of RBC Production
- All blood cells are derived from a common stem
cell (hemocytoblast)
- Hemocytoblasts form two types of descendants
o Lymphoid stem cell, which produces
lymphocytes
o Myeloid stem cell, which can produce
all other formed elements
The Development of Blood Cells

Hemostasis
- HEMOSTASIS is the process of stopping the
bleeding that results from a break in a blood
vessel
- Blood usually clots within 3 to 6 minutes
- The clot remains as endothelium regenerates
- The clot is broken down after tissue repair
- Hemostasis involves three phases
1. Vascular spasms
2. Platelet plug formation
3. Coagulation (blood clotting)
Formation of Red Blood Cells
• STEP 1: VASCULAR SPASMS
- Since RBCs are anucleate, they are unable to
divide, grow, or synthesize proteins – Immediate response to blood vessel injury
- RBCs wear out in 100 to 120 days – Vasoconstriction causes blood vessel to spasm
- When worn out, RBCs are eliminated by – Spasms narrow the blood vessel - decreasing
phagocytes in the spleen or liver blood loss
- Lost cells are replaced by division of
• STEP 2: PLATELET PLUG FORMATION
hemocytoblasts in the red bone marrow
- Reticulocytes are young RBCs which enter the – Collagen fibers are exposed by a break in a
blood to become oxygen-transporting blood vessel
erythrocytes – Platelets become “sticky” and cling to fibers
- Rate of RBC production is controlled by a – Anchored platelets release chemicals to attract
hormone called ERYTHROPOIETIN more platelets
- Kidneys produce most erythropoietin as a – Platelets pile up to form a platelet plug
response to reduced oxygen levels in the blood
- Homeostasis is maintained by negative • STEP 3: COAGULATION
feedback from blood oxygen levels – Injured tissues release tissue factor (TF)
Formation of White Blood Cells and Platelets – PF3 (a phospholipid) interacts with TF,
blood protein clotting factors, and calcium
• WBC and platelet production is controlled by ions to trigger a clotting cascade
hormones – Prothrombin activator converts prothrombin
to thrombin (an enzyme)
- Colony stimulating factors (CSFs) and
– Thrombin joins fibrinogen proteins into
interleukins prompt bone marrow to generate
hairlike molecules of insoluble fibrin
leukocytes
– Fibrin forms a meshwork (the basis for a
- Thrombopoietin stimulates production of
clot)
platelets from megakaryocytes
 – Within the hour, serum is squeezed from the - Even normal movements can cause bleeding
clot as it retracts to pull edges of the blood from small blood vessels that require platelets for
vessel together clotting
o Serum is plasma minus clotting proteins - Evidenced by petechiae (small purplish blotches
on the skin)
Hemophilia
Figure 10.5 Events of Hemostasis
- Hereditary bleeding disorder
- Normal clotting factors are missing
- Minor tissue damage can cause life-threatening
prolonged bleeding
Blood Groups and Transfusions
• Large losses of blood have serious consequences
- Loss of 15 to 30 percent causes pallor and
weakness
- Loss of over 30 percent causes shock, which
can be fatal
• Blood transfusions are given for substantial blood
loss, to treat severe anemia, or for
thrombocytopenia
Human Blood Groups
- Blood contains genetically determined proteins
known as ANTIGENS
- Antigens are substances that the body
recognizes as foreign and that the immune
system may attack
o Most antigens are foreign proteins
o We tolerate our own “self” antigens
- ANTIBODIES are the “recognizers” that bind
foreign antigens
- Blood is “typed” by using antibodies that will
cause blood with certain proteins to clump
(agglutination) and lyse
- Transfusion reactions
o Lysed red blood cells release hemoglobin
into the blood stream
o Freed hemoglobin may block kidney tubules,
Disorders of Hemostasis causing kidney failure and death
o Fever, chills, nausea, and vomiting can also
• Undesirable clotting
result
Thrombus - There are over 30 common red blood cell
antigens
- A clot that develops and persists in an unbroken - The most vigorous transfusion reactions are
blood vessel caused by ABO and Rh blood group antigens
- Can be deadly in areas such as the lungs
• ABO blood group
Embolus
- Blood types are based on the presence or
- A thrombus that breaks away and floats freely in absence of two antigens
the bloodstream 1. Type A
- Can later clog vessels in critical areas such as 2. Type B
the brain - Presence of both antigens A and B is called type
• Bleeding disorders AB
- Presence of antigen A is called type A
Thrombocytopenia - Presence of antigen B is called type B
- Lack of both antigens A and B is called type O
- Insufficient number of circulating platelets
- Arises from any condition that suppresses the – Type AB can receive A, B, AB, and O blood
bone marrow
o Type AB is the “universal recipient”
– Type B can receive B and O blood • Incompatibility between maternal and fetal blood
can result in fetal cyanosis, resulting from
– Type A can receive A and O blood
destruction of fetal blood cells.
– Type O can receive O blood
• Fetal hemoglobin differs from hemoglobin
o Type O is the “universal donor” produced after birth

• RH BLOOD GROUP • Physiologic jaundice occurs in infants when the

liver cannot rid the body of hemoglobin breakdown
- Named for one of the eight Rh antigens products fast enough
(agglutinogen D) identified in Rhesus monkeys
- Anti-Rh antibodies are not automatically • Leukemias are most common in the very young
formed in the blood of Rh-negative individuals and very old
(unlike the antibodies of the ABO system)
o Older adults are also at risk for anemia and
▪ If an Rh– (Rh- negative) - person receives Rh
clotting disorders
blood: +
o The immune system becomes
sensitized and begins producing
antibodies; hemolysis does not occur,
because as it takes time to produce
antibodies
o Second, and subsequent, transfusions
involve antibodies attacking donor’s + Rh
RBCs, and hemolysis occurs (rupture of
RBCs)
▪ Rh-related problem during pregnancy
o Danger occurs only when the mother is Rh-
, the father is Rh+ and the child inherits the
+ Rh factor
o RhoGAM® shot can prevent buildup of anti
– Rh+ antibodies in mother’s blood
• The mismatch of an Rh- mother carrying an + Rh
baby can cause problems for the unborn child
- The first pregnancy usually proceeds without
problems; the immune system is sensitized after
the first pregnancy
- In a second pregnancy, the mother’s immune
system produces antibodies to attack the + Rh
blood (hemolytic disease of the newborn)
Blood Typing
- Blood samples are mixed with anti-A and anti-
B serum
- Agglutination or the lack of agglutination leads
to identification of blood type
- Typing for ABO and Rh factors is done in the
same manner
- Cross matching—testing for agglutination of
donor RBCs by the recipient’s serum, and vice
versa
Developmental Aspects of Blood
• Sites of blood cell formation
- The fetal liver and spleen are early sites of
blood cell formation
- Bone marrow takes over hematopoiesis by the
seventh month
• Congenital blood defects include various types of
hemolytic anemias and hemophilia