Immune Defense and Blood Typing

A comprehensive vocabulary review of immune defense, white blood cell classification, phagocytosis, hemostasis, the blood clotting cascade, ABO blood grouping, and the Rh factor.

Hemoglobin

The pigment within red blood cells responsible for binding and transporting oxygen throughout the body.

Leukocytes

White blood cells that serve as the body's primary defense mechanism against infection and disease.

Granulocytes

A category of white blood cells classified by the presence of visible granules in their cytoplasm, including neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils.

Agranulocytes

A category of white blood cells characterized by the absence of visible granules in their cytoplasm, including lymphocytes and monocytes.

Neutrophils

The most abundant white blood cells, serving as the body's first responders to bacterial infections and the primary phagocytes in the bloodstream.

Eosinophils

White blood cells identified by red-orange granules that combat parasitic infections and assist with allergic reactions.

Basophils

The rarest type of white blood cells, responsible for releasing histamine to promote inflammation during allergic responses.

Histamine

A chemical substance released by basophils during allergic responses to promote inflammation.

Lymphocytes

Agranulocytes essential for specific immunity and immunological memory of past infections, comprising B-cells and T-cells.

B-Cells

A specialized subtype of lymphocytes that produce antibodies to tag pathogens for destruction.

T-Cells

A subtype of lymphocytes that destroy infected host cells directly or regulate the overall immune response.

Monocytes

The largest type of leukocyte, which circulate in the bloodstream for approximately 1 to 3 days before migrating into tissues to differentiate into macrophages.

Macrophages

Large phagocytic cells derived from monocytes in tissues that act as 'big eaters' to clear cellular debris and engulf pathogens.

Phagocytosis

The cellular process in which a cell surrounds, engulfs, and digests microorganisms or foreign particles.

Phagosome

A membrane-bound phagocytic vesicle formed within a phagocyte after the ingestion of a foreign particle or microbe.

Phagolysosome

A digestive vesicle produced by the fusion of a phagosome with a lysosome inside a phagocyte.

Leukemia

A cancer of blood-forming tissues, including the bone marrow and lymphatic system, marked by the uncontrolled production of immature white blood cells that crowd out healthy cells.

Thrombocytes

Also called platelets, these are small fragments of large bone marrow cells called megakaryocytes whose primary role is hemostasis.

Megakaryocytes

Large precursor cells in the bone marrow that fragment to form circulating platelets (thrombocytes).

Hemostasis

The physiological process of stopping bleeding from damaged blood vessels.

Vascular Spasm

The immediate constriction of a damaged blood vessel to reduce local blood flow.

Platelet Plug

An aggregation of platelets that stick to exposed collagen at an injury site and release chemicals to recruit additional platelets.

Coagulation

The clotting process in which prothrombin is converted into thrombin, which then converts fibrinogen into a meshwork of fibrin threads.

Prothrombin

An inactive plasma globulin protein manufactured in the liver that is converted into active thrombin during blood clotting.

Thrombin

An active enzyme produced during the clotting cascade that converts soluble fibrinogen into insoluble fibrin.

Fibrinogen

A soluble plasma protein that is converted by the enzyme thrombin into insoluble fibrin threads.

Fibrin

Insoluble protein threads formed during coagulation that weave a net to secure the platelet plug into a stable clot.

Vitamin K

An essential nutrient required by the liver for prothrombin synthesis, crucial for effective blood clotting and preventing dangerous bleeding.

ABO Blood Grouping System

A classification system that categorizes human blood into types A, B, AB, and O based on inherited surface antigens on red blood cells and antibodies in the plasma.

Type A Blood

A blood type characterized by red blood cells displaying A-antigens and plasma containing anti-B antibodies.

Type B Blood

A blood type characterized by red blood cells displaying B-antigens and plasma containing anti-A antibodies.

Type AB Blood

A blood type characterized by red blood cells displaying both A and B antigens and plasma containing neither anti-A nor anti-B antibodies.

Type O Blood

A blood type characterized by red blood cells displaying no ABO antigens and plasma containing both anti-A and anti-B antibodies.

Agglutination

The clumping of red blood cells caused when plasma antibodies bind to foreign antigens on transfused donor cells.

Hemolysis

The rupture of attacked red blood cells, which releases hemoglobin into the plasma and can obstruct kidney vessels, resulting in shock or death.

Universal Donor

Type O Negative blood, which lacks A, B, and Rh antigens, allowing it to be administered without triggering an immune response in any recipient.

Universal Recipient

Type AB Positive blood, which lacks anti-A, anti-B, and anti-Rh antibodies, enabling an individual to receive blood of any type safely.

Rh Factor (Antigen D)

An erythrocyte surface protein antigen whose presence designates blood as Rh-positive and whose absence designates blood as Rh-negative.

Sensitization

The immunological process wherein an Rh-negative mother's immune system detects Antigen D from fetal blood and produces anti-Rh antibodies.

Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn

A clinical condition occurring in subsequent pregnancies where maternal anti-Rh antibodies cross the placenta and destroy the red blood cells of an Rh-positive fetus.