Blood

Blood is made of many parts

• In centrifuge, heavy stuff will sink

  • Light - Plasma: Liquid component of blood — 55%

    • Mostly water, also sugar, amino acids

  • Middle - WBC and platelets (buffy coats) — >1%

    • Platelets are clotting

  • Heavy - Erythrocytes/RBCs (Hematocrit): Sinks to the bottom — 45%

    • Has iron

When sick, WBC and platelets go up, RBCs go down

• RBCs carry oxygen → Lack of oxygen in body = Less ATP —> Lethargy

  • When sick, you are anemic

Red blood cells do NOT have nucleus !! — This causes the middle to collapse

• Why no nucleus? Because they needed space for HEMOGLOBIN

  • Hemoglobin:

    • Heme - Iron component - Transports oxygen

      • Transports 98% of our oxygen! SUPER important!

    • Globin - Protein component - Transports carbon dioxide

    • DOES NOT TRANSPORT AT THE SAME TIME !!!

• They die within 120 days

  • Without nucleus, how do they reproduce? HEMATOPOESIS in the BONE MARROW!

• They used to have a nucleus, but had to “spit” it out before being released from bone marrow.

Blood cell types:

• Why specific transfusions?

  • Immune system looks for an ANTIGEN:

    • Exterior protein that is used for immune system to DETECT which cell is which —> does NOT affect function

  • When they detect a protein that does not belong, they create those ANTIBODIES !

    

  • There is one one more factor —> the Rh factor or D

    • Either you have it or you don’t (+/-)

    • Still only causes a small reaction, EXCEPT when baby and mom have different (baby +, mom -) AND you have a second child —> Erythroblastosis fetalis

      • You can fix using shot of RhoGAM

Agglutination/coagulation (clumping of cells) - Occurs when blood types which are NOT compatible are mixed

• This is what clogs up blood vessels

• IF there is nothing to attack, then it is not there

  • Ex. question: You find a blood spill which reacted with anti-A, but not Anti-B or Ani-Rh

    • It is A -

Blood color —> More oxygen means the blood is brighter

• Arterial blood = SCARLET red

  • Oxygenated

• Venous blood = DARK red

  • Deoxygenated

Reversible oxygen —> Only with iron

• If it was LEAD, the hemoglobin would not let go of the oxygen —> Not give oxygen to the rest of the body

Erythropoeisis

• Formation of RBCs

• Regulated by erythropoietin (EPO) which is found in kidneys

• Occurs in bone marrow

Anemias —> Low oxygen carrying capacity; not a DISEASE, a SYMPTOM

• Insufficient RBCs

  • Hemorrhagic - Bleeding out

  • Hemolytic - Red blood cells die sooner than expected

    • Mononucleuosis - Mono/Kissing disease: Blood disease by EBV —> Spreads through saliva

  • Aplastic - Bone cancer

    • Making blood cells incorrectly —> They die

• Low hemoglobin - Dietary

  • Iron deficiency - Not eating red meats

  • Pernicious - No B12 = No mitosis = No new blood cells

• Abnormal hemoglobin

  • Thalassemia - DNA does not have proper components to build RBCs, so they fall apart

  • Sickle cell - Some cells are sickle-shaped

    • This is actually helpful in places with malaria, as they help protect against this disease.

Polycythemia: Too many blood cells

• Makes blood thicker —> Plasma content goes down

• Heart does not like syrup-y

• Natural polycythemia

• Not able to flow easily

Leukocytes (WBC) - Protect from the body - 5 types, which can be differentiated into two groups based on the CYTOPLASM

• When looked at under a microscope, they will be the color of the stain

• Granulocytes - Short life (>1 day) - Grainy cytoplasm - React to DIFFERENT stains — Start up inflammitory response

  • Basophils - Blue

    • Absorbed base stain, made cell blue

    • Respond to forein antigens (allergic reactions)

    • Secretes:

      • Heparin: Blood thinner; prevent clotting

      • Histamine: Vasodilation = increases bloodflow; but also increases swelling

  • Eosinophils - Red

    • Absorbed acid stain, made cell red

    • Respond to parasitic infection

    • Perform apoptosis next to the parasite, and the perforins poke holes through the parasite

    • Secretes:

      • Perforins: Rupture cell membrane

  • Neutrophils - Purple

    • Absorbed both, made cell purple

    • Respond to bacterial + ungal infections

    • They eat bacteria, which have lysosomes in them

      • Lysosomes have H₂O₂, which kills everything

    • Also poison themselves with that as well

    • Secretes:

      • H₂O₂: Damages cell membranes and DNA (found in lysosomes in neutrophils)

• Agranulocytes - Long life - THIS is your immunity (allows you to not get same disease again)

  • Lymphocytes - In the lymph nodes (When lymph nodes = swollen, sign that you are fighting disease)

    • T-Cells - Destroy foreign substances + cancerous cells

      • Just kill ALL cells

    • B-Cells - Antibody factories

      • Mark foreign cells for T-Cells to kill

      • If B-Cells mark good cells, then T-Cell kills those also - AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE

    • Circular nucleus

  • Monocytes

    • Inside blood vessels

    • Outside blood vessels —> Turn into macrophages

      • “Scavengers” clean up cellular debris

      • Biggest

    • U-Shaped nucleus

• Break down:

  • Never - 60% - Neutrophils

  • Let - 20% - Lymphocytes

  • Minions - 8% - Monocytes

  • Eat - 2% - Eosinophils

  • Bananas - <1% - Basophils

Leukemia: Cancer of the Blood Cells

• Occurs most often in adults > 55, but is the most common cancer in children < 15.

  • Myelogenous

  • Lymphocytic

Thrombocytes (Blood clot): Clot blood when there is a damaged blood vessel

• Thrombus = Clot

• Fragments of the megakaryocyte

  • Too big to be in circulation

• Maintain hemostasis —> Maintains blood from leaking out

• Need calcium to even BEGIN clotting the blood

• Hemophilia = Love of blood; cannot stop bleeding

• Steps:

  • Prothrombin activator comes into contact with prothrombin, turning it into thrombin

  • Thrombin activates the fibrinogen to turn into fibrin

  • Fibrin is the mesh which makes your scab/clot

Thrombus vs. Embolus

• Thrombus: When your blood forms in your veins, and gets stuck in the valves

  • Ex. DVT - Deep vein thrombosis in thigh

• Embolus: A piece of the thrombus that is flowing free, flowing back to the heart; it is growing bigger

  • PE - Pulmonary embolism

What dissolves a clot?

• Plasminogen (Circulating, inactive protein)

  • If activated by tPA (Tissue plasminogen activator)

• Creates plasmin —> FIBRINOLYTIC

  • Important information —> You can inject tPA to turn your plasminogen into plasmin and reduce negative permanent effects of stroke.

Anything that ends with -ogen is INACTIVE