Circulation Pathology Flashcards
Where are platelets produced?
Bone marrow
What is the precursor cell of platelets?
Megakaryocytes
Production of megakaryocytes
Megakaryocytes in the bone marrow undergo nuclear division but not cell division so we get a huge cell with many nuclei.
Platelets bud off as fragments from cytoplasmic extensions.
Define coagulaiton
Solidification of blood
What is the role of platelets?
Trauma to the vessel causes the exposure of platelets to interstitial collagen.
Platelets adhere together to try to form a bridge to close the gap/heal the trauma. platelets will clot (clump together) to plug the hole in the blood vessel and stop the bleeding.
What are the two types of coagulation?
Thrombus formation
Clot formation
What component of platelets allow the, to adhere to interstitial collagen?
Platelets have molecules on their surfaces which allow adherence to interstitial collagen, even when blood is flowing past them – the clotting cascade deposits Factor VIII which enhances this further
What does a thrombus consist of?
Platelets and a mesh like network of fibrin strands
What is thrombosis?
Thrombosis is the process of thrombus formation which occurs in the flowing blood
Steps in thrombus formation
1)Constriction of the blood vessel
2) Formation of a temporary “platelet plug.”
3) Activation of the coagulation cascade. - clotting factors mainly proteins made by the liver
4) Formation of “fibrin plug” or the final clot.
What colour is a thrombus?
Pale cream coloured
What does a clot consist of?
A clot consists of a network of fibrin strands and red blood cells
Clot formation
- Blood leaks out of a vessel and becomes stationary (or stagnant)
- With the stagnant blood, sitting next to the interstitial collagen, the clotting cascade is activated
Where are key clotting factors produced?
Many are produced in the liver but also by endothelial cells
What does an amplification system result in?
Thrombin production
What does thrombin do?
Converts fibrinogen into insoluble fibrin
What is fibrinogen?
A soluble protein present in blood plasma, from which fibrin is produced by the action of the enzyme thrombin.
What is fibrin?
An insoluble protein that is produced in response to bleeding and is the major component of the blood clot.
What does fibrin form?
Mesh of strands
Where is fibrinogen made and found?
Made: liver
Found: Blood plasma
What does the clotting cascade do?
Lead to the production of thrombin from prothrombin
What are the steps in the clotting cascade?
- Damage to tissue factor
- Prothrombin is converted to thrombin
- Fibrinogen is converted to fibrin by thrombin
What does trauma lead to?
Exposure of interstital collagens (collagens in connective tissue between structures)
Exposure of a molecule called Tissue factor (TF)
What is tissue factor?
A transmembrane glycoprotein that functions as the primary cellular initiator of blood coagulation.
What is the aftermath of trauma?
- Trauma results in defects in vessels
- Blood leaks out
- Plasma clotting factors can now be activated as they contact interstitial collagens
In addition to this - tissue factor is released from smooth muscle cells when you get the cut in the vessel.
What happens in any trauma that causes bleeding?
Vasoconstriction helps reduce bleeding
Clot formation occurs in space around vessel and may fill void of wounded tissue
Thrombus forms in flowing blood and stops bleeding from gaps in vessels
What is granulation tissue and what grows in them?
New vessels can grow into area of wound.
These new vessels are called granulation tissue.
The capillaries that grow in (granulation tissue) can oxygenate the area of the wound and keep it alive.
Many clotting factors are serine proteases, what does this mean?
They have a serine amino acid in them and they cleave other clotting factors to form active molecules.
What part of the artery contains plasma?
Lumen of artery contains plasma
What does plasma consist of?
Water, numerous proteins and other molecules, clotting factors
What is serum?
Plasma without clotting factors
Give an example of haemostasis (stopping bleeding) in normal skin with a wound
- Vessel in skin is surrounded by collagen
- Trauma to skin disrupts one side of vessel
- Blood, including red blood cells, leaks out
- The clotting system is activated by collagen and by the stagnant blood, forming a clot
- This may not work perfectly and the wound may continue to bleed
- The vessel then constricts to decrease blood loss
- A platelet and fibrin thrombus forms to bridge the gap between the ends of the vessel adjacent to flowing blood
- The skin stops bleeding and haemostasis has been achieved