BLOOD / BLOOD CELLS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

Blood is a constantly circulating fluid providing the body with nutrition, oxygen, and waste
removal. Blood is mostly liquid, with numerous cells and proteins suspended in it, making blood
"thicker" than pure water. The average person has about 5 liters (more than a gallon) of blood.
A liquid called plasma makes up about half of the content of blood. Plasma contains proteins
that help blood to clot, transport substances through the blood, and perform other functions.
Blood plasma also contains glucose and other dissolved nutrients. Blood contains antibodies,
nutrients, oxygen and much more to help the body work.
About half of blood volume is composed of blood cells:
Red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the tissues
White blood cells, which fight infections
Platelets, smaller cells that help blood to clot
Blood is conducted through blood vessels (arteries and veins). Blood is prevented from clotting
in the blood vessels by their smoothness, and the finely tuned balance of clotting factors.
it is composed of blood cells suspended in blood plasma. Plasma, which constitutes 55% of
blood fluid, is mostly water (92% by volume), and contains dissipated proteins, glucose, mineral
ions, hormones, carbon dioxide (plasma being the main medium for excretory product
transportation), and blood cells themselves. Albumin is the main protein in plasma, and it
functions to regulate the colloidal osmotic pressure of blood. The blood cells are mainly red
blood cells (also called RBCs or erythrocytes), white blood cells (also called WBCs or
leukocytes) and platelets. The most abundant cells in the blood are red blood cells.
Blood is circulated around the body through blood vessels by the pumping action of the heart. In
humans with lungs, arterial blood carries oxygen from inhaled air to the tissues of the body, and
venous blood carries carbon dioxide, a waste product of metabolism produced by cells, from the
tissues to the lungs to be exhaled.
Medical terms related to blood often begin with hemo- or hemato- (also spelled haemo- and
haemato-) from the Greek word (haima) for "blood".

Functions
Blood performs many important functions within the body including:

Supply of oxygen to tissues (bound to hemoglobin, which is carried in red cells)

Supply of nutrients such as glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids (dissolved in the blood
or bound to plasma proteins (e.g., blood lipids))

Removal of waste such as carbon dioxide, urea, and lactic acid

Immunological functions, including circulation of white blood cells, and detection of

foreign material by antibodies

Coagulation, the response to a broken blood vessel, the conversion of blood from a liquid
to a semi-solid gel to stop bleeding.

Messenger functions, including the transport of hormones and the signaling of tissue
damage

Regulation of body pH

Regulation of core body temperature

Hydraulic functions

Constituents -What's Inside of Blood?

Blood accounts for 7% of the human body weight.The average adult has a blood volume
of roughly 5 litres which is composed of plasma and several kinds of cells. These blood
cells (which are also called corpuscles or "formed elements") consist of erythrocytes
(red blood cells, RBCs), leukocytes (white blood cells), and thrombocytes (platelets). By
volume, the red blood cells constitute about 45% of whole blood, the plasma about
54.3%, and white cells about 0.7%.

Cells
One microliter of blood contains:

4.7 to 6.1 million (male), 4.2 to 5.4 million (female) erythrocytes:[6] Red blood cells
contain the blood's hemoglobin and distribute oxygen.

4,00011,000 leukocytes:[8] White blood cells are part of the body's

immune system; they destroy and remove old or aberrant cells and cellular
debris, as well as attack infectious agents (pathogens) and foreign
substances. The cancer of leukocytes is called leukemia.
200,000500,000 thrombocytes:[8] Also called platelets, they take part in
blood clotting (coagulation). Fibrin from the coagulation cascade creates a
mesh over the platelet plug.

Plasma
About 55% of blood is blood plasma, a fluid that is the blood's liquid medium, which by itself is
straw-yellow in color. The blood plasma volume totals of 2.73.0 liters (2.83.2 quarts) in an
average human. It is essentially an aqueous solution containing 92% water, 8% blood plasma
proteins, and trace amounts of other materials. Plasma circulates dissolved nutrients, such as
glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids (dissolved in the blood or bound to plasma proteins), and
removes waste products, such as carbon dioxide, urea, and lactic acid.
Other important components include:

Serum albumin

Blood-clotting factors (to facilitate coagulation)

Immunoglobulins (antibodies)

lipoprotein particles

Various other proteins

Various electrolytes (mainly sodium and chloride)

The term serum refers to plasma from which the clotting proteins have been removed. Most of
the proteins remaining are albumin and immunoglobulins.

WHITE BLOOD CELLS

White blood cells (WBCs), also called leukocytes or leucocytes, are the cells of the immune
system that are involved in protecting the body against both infectious disease and foreign
invaders. All leukocytes are produced and derived from a multipotent cell in the bone marrow
known as a hematopoietic stem cell. Leukocytes are found throughout the body, including the
blood and lymphatic system.
Five different and diverse types of leukocytes exist. These types are distinguished by their
physical and functional characteristics. Monocytes and neutrophils are phagocytic.

Neutrophil

Neutrophil engulfing anthrax bacteria

Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cell, constituting 60-70% of the circulating
leukocytes.They defend against bacterial or fungal infection. They are usually first responders to
microbial infection; their activity and death in large numbers forms pus. Neutrophils are active in
phagocytosing bacteria and are present in large amount in the pus of wounds. These cells die
after having phagocytosed a few pathogens. Neutrophils are the most common cell type seen in
the early stages of acute inflammation. The life span of a circulating human neutrophil is about
5.4 days.

Eosinophil

Eosinophils compose about 2-4% of the WBC total. This count fluctuates throughout the day,
seasonally, and during menstruation. It rises in response to allergies, parasitic infections, collagen
diseases, and disease of the spleen and central nervous system. They are rare in the blood, but
numerous in the mucous membranes of the respiratory, digestive, and lower urinary tracts.
They primarily deal with parasitic infections. Eosinophils are also the predominant inflammatory
cells in allergic reactions. The most important causes of eosinophilia include allergies such as
asthma, hay fever, and hives; and also parasitic infections. They secrete chemicals that destroy
these large parasites, such as hook worms and tapeworms, that are too big for any one WBC to
phagocytize.

Basophil
Basophils are chiefly responsible for allergic and antigen response by releasing the chemical
histamine causing the dilation of blood vessels. They are the rarest of the white blood cells (less
than 0.5% of the total count) .
They excrete two chemicals that aid in the body's defenses: histamine and heparin. Histamine is
responsible for widening blood vessels and increasing the flow of blood to injured tissue. It also
makes blood vessels more permeable so neutrophils and clotting proteins can get into connective
tissue more easily. Heparin is an anticoagulant that inhibits blood clotting and promotes the
movement of white blood cells into an area. Basophils can also release chemical signals that
attract eosinophils and neutrophils to an infection site.

Lymphocyte
Lymphocytes are much more common in the lymphatic system than in blood.
Lymphocytes include:

B cells make antibodies that can bind to pathogens, block pathogen invasion, activate the
complement system, and enhance pathogen destruction.

T cells:
o CD4+ helper T cells: T cells displaying co-receptor CD4 are known as CD4+ T
cells. These cells have T-cell receptors and CD4 molecules that, in combination,

bind antigenic peptides presented on major histocompatibility complex (MHC)

class II molecules on antigen-presenting cells. Helper T cells make cytokines and
perform other functions that help coordinate the immune response. In HIV
infection, these T cells are the main index to identify the individual's immune
system integrity.
o CD8+ cytotoxic T cells: T cells displaying co-receptor CD8 are known as CD8+ T
cells. These cells bind antigens presented on MHC I complex of virus-infected or
tumour cells and kill them. Nearly all nucleated cells display MHC I.
o T cells possess an alternative T cell receptor (different from the TCR found
on conventional CD4+ and CD8+ T cells). Found in tissue more commonly than
in blood, T cells share characteristics of helper T cells, cytotoxic T cells, and
natural killer cells.

Natural killer cells are able to kill cells of the body that do not display MHC class I
molecules, or display stress markers such as MHC class I polypeptide-related sequence A
(MIC-A). Decreased expression of MHC class I and up-regulation of MIC-A can happen
when cells are infected by a virus or become cancerous.

Monocyte
Monocytes, the largest type of WBCs, share the "vacuum cleaner" (phagocytosis) function of
neutrophils, but are much longer lived as they have an extra role: they present pieces of
pathogens to T cells so that the pathogens may be recognized again and killed. This causes an
antibody response to be mounted.
Monocytes eventually leave the bloodstream and become tissue macrophages, which remove
dead cell debris as well as attacking microorganisms. Neither dead cell debris nor attacking
microorganisms can be dealt with effectively by the neutrophils.
Once monocytes move from the bloodstream out into the body tissues, they undergo changes
(differentiate) allowing phagocytosis and are then known as macrophages.