Composition of Blood

Blood is a connective tissue composed of blood plasma (liquid) and formed elements (cells and cell fragments)
(i)Blood Plasma:
When the formed elements are removed from
blood, a straw-colored liquid is left. This liquid is called blood plasma
(or simply plasma)
Blood plasma is a watery liquid extracellular matrix that contains
dissolved substances.
It consists of about 91.5% water and 8.5% solutes, most
of which (7% by weight) are proteins.
The proteins in blood
plasma confined to blood are called plasma proteins.
Hepatocytes (liver cells) synthesize most of the plasma proteins, which
include the albumins (54% of plasma proteins), globulins (38%), and
fibrinogen (7%).
Certain blood cells develop into cells that produce gamma globulins, an
important type of globulin.
These plasma proteins are also called antibodies or immunoglobulins
because they are produced during certain immune
responses.
Besides proteins, other solutes in plasma include electrolytes,
nutrients, regulatory substances such as enzymes and hormones,
gases, and waste products such as urea, uric acid, creatinine, ammonia,
and bilirubin.
(ii)Formed Elements:
The formed elements of the blood include
three principal components: red blood cells, white blood cells, and
platelets.
a. Red blood cells (RBCs) or erythrocytes :
These cells transport oxygen from the lungs to body cells and deliver
carbon dioxide from body cells to the lungs.
b. White blood cells (WBCs) or leukocytes :
These cells protect the body from invading pathogens and other foreign
substances.
There are several types of WBCs: neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils,
monocytes, and lymphocytes.
Lymphocytes are further subdivided into B lymphocytes (B cells), T
lymphocytes (T cells), and natural killer (NK)
cells.
Each type of WBC contributes in its own way to the body’s defense
mechanisms.
c. Platelets:
The final type of formed element, are fragments
of cells that do not have a nucleus.
Among other actions, they release chemicals that promote blood clotting
when blood vessels are damaged.
Platelets are the functional equivalent of thrombocytes which are
nucleated cells found in lower vertebrates that prevent blood loss by
clotting blood.
Functions of Blood
Blood has three general
functions:
1.Transportation:
Blood transports oxygen from the lungs to the cells of the body and
carbon dioxidefrom the body cells to the lungs for exhalation.
It carries nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract to body cells and
hormones from endocrine glands to other body cells.
Blood also transports heat and waste products to various organs for
elimination from the body.
2. Regulation:
Circulating blood helps maintain homeostasis
of all body fluids.
Blood helps regulate pH through the use of
buffers.
It also helps adjust body temperature through the heat absorbing
and coolant properties of the water in blood plasma and its variable rate
of flow through the skin, where excess heat can be lost from the blood to
the environment.
In addition, blood osmotic pressure influences the water content
of cells, mainly through interactions of dissolved ions and proteins.
3. Protection:
Blood can clot, which protects against its excessive loss from the
cardiovascular system after an injury.
In addition, its white blood cells protect against disease by carrying on
phagocytosis.
Several types of blood proteins, including antibodies, interferons, and
complement, help protect against disease in a variety of ways.
ESR stands for Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate
An ESR is a type of blood test that measures how quickly erythrocytes (red blood cells) settle
at the bottom of a test tube that contains a blood sample. Normally, red blood cells settle
relatively slowly. A faster-than-normal rate may indicate inflammation in the body.
Inflammation is part of your immune response system. It can be a reaction to an infection or
injury. Inflammation may also be a sign of a chronic disease, an immune disorder, or other
medical condition.
An ESR test can help determine if you have a condition that causes inflammation such as
temporal and rheumatoid arthritis, vasculitis, chronic kidney diseses, auto – immune
diseases, inflammatory bowel disease etc. An ESR may also be used to monitor an existing
condition.

PCV stands for Packed Cell Volume. It is the volume occupied by erythrocytes in a given
volume of whole blood sample. It is also called the hematocrit test.This test indicates the relative
proportion of erythrocytes to plasma. It is expressed in percentage. The normal value for men is
42% to 52%; for women,37% to 47% and for new borns, 53% to 65%.

A low pcv indicates medical conditions like anemia, Leukemia, etc. A high pcv indicates medical
conditions like dehydration, polycythemia, etc.
Blood is the most easily shared of human tissues.
A transfusion is the transfer of whole blood or
blood components (red blood cells only or blood plasma only)
into the bloodstream or directly into the red bone marrow.
A transfusion is most often given to alleviate anemia, to increase
blood volume (for example, after a severe hemorrhage), or to
improve immunity.
However, the normal components of one person’s RBC plasma
membrane can trigger damaging antigen–antibody responses in a
transfusion recipient.
In an incompatible blood transfusion, antibodies in the recipient’s
plasma bind to the antigens on the donated RBCs, which causes
agglutination or clumping, of the RBCs.
Agglutination is an antigen–antibody response in which RBCs become
cross linked to one another.
To avoid such severe problems the blood of a donor has to be carefully
matched with the blood of a recipient. The donor’s compatibility is
shown in the table given below.