Overview of Blood Functions
- Blood functions:
- Exchanging gases
- Distributing solutes: Distributes around electrolytes, sodium ions, calcium ions,
potassium ions.
- Performing immune functions
- Regulating body temperature: Regulate our body temp through our skin, and
blood. Vasoconstriction and Vasodilation of vessels.
- Blood clotting
- Maintaining acid-base balance
- Stabilize blood pressure: Varo receptors our measuring the pressure of our
blood.
Plasma
- Mostly water
- Plasma proteins:
- Albumin - main solute that determines our colloid osmotic pressure. Low albumin
means low osmotic pressure.
- Immune proteins (antibodies)
- Transport proteins - little proteins that attach to lipid soluble molecules and allow
them to move around, so they do not clump together.
- Clotting proteins - typically numbered
- What component of peripheral resistance is directly related to the composition of
plasma?
- Blood viscosity is related to the composition of plasma, whether there's
enough water in it, enough proteins, all these influence blood viscosity.
Erythrocyte Structure - Hemoglobin
- Carbaminohemoglobin
- Oxyhemoglobin
- Carboxyhemoglobin (It is bad, when the hemoglobin binds to carbon monoxide, and it is
a stronger bond than how it bonds with oxygen and therefore oxygen levels drop in your
body.)
- Heme molecules are to hold iron. In each heme, a little iron is bound in the middle.
Erythrocyte life cycle
- RBCs Live about 120 days
- They do not regenerate or repair
- Erythropoiesis is the production of RBCs
, - If “pro” is in front of a word it is a precursor, version before the final version
- Reticulocytes are important, they are in the circulation. Can be counted if a blood sample
is drawn.
Erythropoiesis
- Regulated by negative feedback loop
- Low blood O2 concentration
- -> detected in kidneys
- -> release of erythropoietin
- Erythropoiesis rate increases and faster maturation
- Increase hematocrit
- What is an expected finding related to reticulocytes during increased erythropoiesis?
- Larger population of reticulocytes, increase in erythropoiesis means increase in
reticulocytes.
- RBCs get broken down by macrophages in the spleen, into amino acids and iron
because these are valuable to the body. The heme group also gets broken down so it
can be excreted by the liver. Some of it goes through the kidneys. Most of it gets
excreted through stool.
Anemia (disorder of erythrocyte population)
- Related to either/ both:
- Hemoglobin
- Hematocrit
- Signs and symptoms of anemia: Symptoms: Fatigued, light headed, Cold, Low energy
level. Signs: Pale skin
- Physiological consequences of anemia:
- ↓ O2 delivery to tissues -> Increases levels of EPO (erythropoietin)
- ↓ O2 delivery to tissues -> Increases CO (cardiac output)
- Most common source of anemia is nutrition based. Iron-deficiency anemia.
Module 19.3 Leukocytes and Immune function
Granulocytes
Pneumonic to remember these cells:
Never let monkeys eat bananas - cells in this order are in order of highest to lowest
concentration in the blood: Neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, monocytes, basophils
- Neutrophils - most common leukocyte
- Highly active phagocytes that destroys bacteria
- Attracted by chemotaxis of injured cells
- Enhance inflammation
- Eosinophils
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