Lecture 3 Flashcards
Where are RBC’s made?
Bone marrow
What organs are important in the production of RBC’s
Kidney produces erythropoetin
Liver - iron
other hormones support too: from gonads, adrenal cortex, pituitary, thyroid
What stimulates erythropoiesis?
Erythropoetin and iron travel to the bone marrow
What are the 3 major pools the erythron contains?
erythrocyte precursors
blood erythrocytes
splenic erythrocytes
How are erythrocytes made in the bone marrow?
EPO stimulates colony forming unit erythroid cells (CFU-E) to differentiate into rubriblasts (Rb), the Rb’s then undergo mitosis and pyramidal maturation (one Rb makes 16 eventual mature erythrocytes) that are released into the bloodstream
Where are RBC’s stored?
Spleen
How and where are RBC’s destroyed
the spleen and liver by macrophages
What are the functions of RBC’s?
Transport oxygen to the tissues
Carry C02 away from tissues
buffering of hydrogen ions
What increases the 02 carrying capacity of blood to 70x that of plasma
hemoglobin
what are the 3 things that affect the oxygen content in the blood
Hemoglobin content
partial pressure of 02
hemoglobin oxygen affinity (p50)
How do erythrocytes get rid of C02?
carbonic anhydrase
What is the normal morphology for erythrocytes in dogs?
biconcave disc with prominent central pallor
minimal anisocytosis with only a few polychromatophils
what is anisocytosis
differences in cell size
What do normal erythrocytes look like in cats?
slightly smaller than dogs with less central pallor
exhibit rouleaux
What is rouleax
RBC’s look like stacks of coins
non- specific binding of RBC’s due to protein coating
What do normal RBC’s look like in horses?
same size as cats also exhibit rouleaux
What do camelid RBC’s look like?
oval shaped
What is different about Bird/reptile RBC’s?
they are nucleated
True/False
we can use analyzers for non-mammal species
False - analyzer does not recognize the nucleated RBC’s
What do we use a microcentrifuge and refractometer for?
Microcentrifuge - PCV
refractometer - total protein concentration (TP)
What is the automated hematology analyzer used for?
RBC count HgB concentration Calculated hematocrit Mean Cell volume (MCV) Red cell distribution width (RDW) Mean cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC)
Why do we evaluate peripheral blood films?
Red blood cell density
Microscopy: size, shape, color and inclusions
Ex: parasites, RBC/WBC morphology, platelet clumping, inclusions, toxic changes
bone marrow evaluation
What does the PCV measure
RBC mass
What type of blood is used for PCV
Well-mixed/ anti-coagulated blood
What information do you get from spinning the microhematocrit tube?
plasma color and plasma protein concentration
True/False
there is species variation in PCV %
True