Lab 1: Blood Flashcards
Ensure that you study what the Leukocytes look like in a microscope!
What type of tissue is blood?
Connective Tissue
What is connective tissue composed of?
Matrix + Specialized Cells
What is whole blood?
Plasma + Formed Elements
What is plasma?
Viscous watery solution containing solutes
How much of whole blood does plasma make up approximately?
55%
What are formed elements, and what are the main three?
Specialized cells/cell fragments found in blood.
- Red Blood Cells
- White Blood cells
- Platelets
What is a red blood cell?
Erythrocytes
What is a white blood cell?
Leukocytes
What is a platelet?
Thrombocyte
How much of blood plasma is water?
92%
What protein in blood plasma that is soluble is converted into an insoluble form?
Fibrinogen is converted into Fibrin
What does Fibrin do?
Fibrin catches cells in the blood stream forming a blood clot.
What is Serum?
Serum is blood plasma without fibrinogen
What are the five types of white blood cells?
- Monocyte
- Lymphocyte
- Eosinophil
- Basophil
- Neutrophil
What is the most abundant of the formed elements?
Erythrocytes (RBC)
What are Erythrocytes “lacking?”
- A Nucleus
- Mitochondria
For this reason, they are not considered “living”
What are Erythrocytes filled almost entirely with?
Hemoglobin
What is Hemoglobin?
Hemoglobin reversibly binds oxygen and carries it from the lungs to the rest of the cells in the body.
What are the functional/structural characteristics of Erythrocytes?
- They are extremely small (8 um)
- They have a flattened shape (allowing them to stack)
- They are bi-concave discs, (giving them the maximum surface area to volume ratio.)
What is the most abundant to least abundant Leukocyte (WBC)?
neutrophils,lymphocyte, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils
Never Let Monkeys Eat Bananas
What are lymphocytes and their characteristics?
Lymphocytes are cells of the lymphatic system, they have a smooth appearance and a thin crescent of cytoplasm.
Where do basophils typically accumulate?
At the site of an injury
What do basophils release?
Heparin & Histamines
What is the function of Heparin?
Slows blood clotting
What is the function of Histamine?
Causes dilation of blood vessels.
What are the characteristics of basophils?
Dark granules
“Nerd candy” appearance
Which white blood cell type is the most abundant?
Neutrophil
What are the structure/function characteristics of neutrophil?
Phagocytic: engulfs/destroys foreign bodies.
Makes the yellow/white appearance of pus
Multi-lobed Nucleus
What is the function of Monocytes?
They are Phagocytic and destroy invading pathogens and infected cells.
What are the characteristics of Monocytes?
Large cell
U-Shaped Nucleus
What is the function of Eosinophils?
They attack and destroy large invading organisms. ex. Parasites
What are the characteristics of Eosinophils?
Light Granules
Bi-lobed Nucleus
Are thrombocytes metabolically active and considered alive?
No
Why are thrombocytes important for blood clotting?
They hold small sacs of proteins, specifically thrombin, which converts fibrinogen to fibrin.
What is blood type determined by?
The antigens present on the surface of Erythrocytes (RBC).
What determines of a blood type is positive or negative?
Rh antigen
What does the body do in response to any type of blood type that is not naturally present?
Produce antibodies
What occurs when blood types are mixed?
Agglutination: Clumping caused by antibodies binding to the alien blood cell antigens.
What are the three blood pathologies we are expected to know?
Sickle Cell Anemia
Leukemia
Anemia
What are the characteristics of sickle cell anemia?
Mutant hemoglobin distorts the shape of RBC into a crescent or sickle shape.
These RBC do not transport oxygen well.
They tend to clump up in blood vessels.
What is Leukemia?
Cancer affecting Leukocytes (WBC). Abundant, mutant Leukocytes
What is Anemia?
Anemia occurs when their is a lack of Red Blood Cells, or not enough hemoglobin content in them.
What are the three blood tests we are expected to know?
Complete Blood Count (CBC)
Hematocrit
Hemoglobin Scale
What does a complete blood count do?
Provides an overall picture of a patient’s blood.
What does a Hematocrit typically performed to do?
Rule out Anemia
Determines the percentage of RBC in whole blood.
Typical Ranges are as Follows
Men: 42-52%
Women: 37-47%