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POM (Principles of Medicine) > Plasma > Flashcards

Plasma Flashcards

(63 cards)

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1
Q

What are the 4 mains fluid compartments in humans?

A
  • intracellular (55%)

-extracellular (45%)
— blood plasma (7%)
— interstitial fluid (36%) Between cells
— trans cellular fluid (2%) Cerebrospinal, ocular(eyes), synovial

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2
Q

What is the role of interstitial fluid?

A

Carries O2 and nutrients to cells

Vehicle for the removal of cellular waste products

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3
Q

Where is interstitial fluid drained from?

A

From tissues by the lymphatic vessels and is known as lymph

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4
Q

Where does lymph drain?

A

To secondary lymphoid organs such as the lymph nodes

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5
Q

What does lymph play a role in?

A

It is a component of the adaptive immune response.

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6
Q

What is the composition of plasma?

A

very similar to interstitial fluid

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7
Q

What is the main difference between plasma and interstitial fluid?

A

Plasma contains much more protein

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8
Q

What is plasma?

A

the liquid component of the blood, comprising around 55% of a given blood volume

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9
Q

How do we separate the components of the blood?

A

Treat the sample with anticoagulant then subject the sample to centrifugation

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10
Q

What are the components of blood?

A
  • Plasma (55%)
  • Buffy coat (<1%) — separates RBCs and plasma
  • Red Blood cells (45%)
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11
Q

What does the buffy coat consist of?

A

leukocytes and platelets

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12
Q

What is Apherisis?

A

a technique in which the blood of a donor is collected and passed through a centrifuge to separate a particular cellular component, with the remained returned to the donor

In this way, different cell fractions can be purified for further use.

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13
Q

What disorders can therapeutic apheresis be used to treat?

A
  • Plasma exchange
  • Low density lipid removal
  • Red cell exchange
  • Platelet depletion
  • White blood cell depletion
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14
Q

What does plasma exchange treat?

A

multiple sclerosis and myeloma

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15
Q

What does low density lipid removal treat?

A

patients prone to atherosclerosis

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16
Q

What does red cell exchange treat?

A

Sickle cell disease

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17
Q

What does platelet depletion treat?

A

Disorders of homeostasis

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18
Q

What does white blood cell depletion treat?

A

Leukaemia

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19
Q

What is the use of harvesting of peripheral blood stem cells?

A

Once isolated, these cells are commonly used in bone marrow transplantation, to treat patients with leukaemia and lymphoma (white blood cell cancers).

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20
Q

What is serum?

A

It is generated by letting blood clot for several minutes, depleting the plasma of coagulation factors and trapping cells and platelets within the clot

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21
Q

What are the differences between serum and plasma

A

Plasma is relatively quick to prepare whilst serum can generate a cleaner sample (containing few cells) but takes longer to generate

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22
Q

What are the functions of plasma?

6

A 
Clotting
Immune defence
Osmotic pressure maintenance
Metabolism
Endocrine
Excretion
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23
Q

Role of plasma in clotting?

A

clotting factors and von Willebrand factor found in plasma play keys role in blood clotting

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24
Q

Role of plasma in immune defence?

A

Contains antibodies and complement protein

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25
Role of plasma in osmotic pressure maintenance?
proteins such as albumin help to maintain colloidal osmotic pressure
26
Role of plasma in metabolism?
nutrients such as glucose, amino acids and vitamins are transported in the plasma
27
Role of plasma in endocrine
many hormones are soluble in plasma and following release into the blood travel to their target organs
28
Role of plasma in excretion?
cell metabolism waste products such as urea are transported via the plasma fraction of the blood to the kidneys for removal
29
How abundant are proteins in the plasma?
7%
30
How can we determine the content of plasma?
electrophoresis
31
What is the most abundant plasma protein?
Serum albumin Peak lies closer to the cathode
32
Where is Serum Albumin produced?
The liver
33
What are the functions of serum albumin?
1. Transport of lipids, hormones, ions | 2. Maintaining osmotic pressure of plasma
34
What is the role of albumin?
When fatty acids are released from the breakdown of triglycerides in adipose tissue —> albumin plays a key role in transporting these around the body for use by other tissues in β-oxidation
35
What are globulins?
Plasma proteins (35%)
36
What are the 3 groups of globulins?
Alpha globulins Beta globulins Gamma globulins
37
What can alpha globulins be broken down into?
Alpha-1 globulins | Alpha-2 globulins
38
What are serum alpha 1 globulins represented by?
Alpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT)
39
Where is alpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT) produced and what is its role?
Produced by the liver | Enters the circulation where it plays an important role of inhibiting enzymes which breakdown proteins( proteases)
40
What does inhibiting proteases by A1AT do?
Protects tissues from a variety of enzymes( notably neutrophil elastase- released by neutrophils during inflammation)
41
What happens if A1AT is defective or deficient?
Compromises lung where degradation of lung tissue leads to a loss of elasticity & respiratory problems
42
What are alpha-2 globulins represented by?
Haptoglobin & a2- macroglobulin
43
How is haptoglobin removed?
Binds to haemoglobin released from erythrocytes and the resulting haptoglobin- haemoglobin complex is removed by the spleen
44
What can the levels of haptoglobin show?
Diagnosis of haemolytic anaemia
45
What is the role of a2- macroglobulin?
Broadly active protease inhibitor | Which can inactive fibrinolytic, the breakdown of fibrin involved in blood clotting
46
What proteins do Beta globulins include?
C3 and C4 complement proteins | Transferrin
47
What is the role of transferrin and where is it generated?
Generated by the liver | Transportation of iron both dietary and that released from the stores of ferritin
48
What proteins do gamma globulins include?
Immunoglobulins (antibodies) | Acute-phase protein C-reactive protein
49
What does an increase in the relative amounts of the gamma fraction of globulins indicate?
Increased immune system activity associated with infection
50
How much of the plasma do electrolytes make up?
1%
51
What are electrolytes major contributors to?
Osmolarity
52
Which is the most plentiful cation in the plasma?
Sodium | Levels 30 times lower inside blood cells
53
Levels of potassium?
30 times lower outside the red cell
54
How are cells not being torn apart by difference in charge?
The positive from the intracellular K is mainly balanced by extracellular chloride ions Also neutralised by anions: proteins, nucleus acids, phosphorylase proteins
55
Where are calcium ions found?
intracellular levels several thousand times lower than those outside the cell
56
What are increases in intracellular calcium are associated with?
signalling events and can be due to either the opening of calcium channels allowing influx form the exterior, or the release of intracellular stores
57
What is intracellular MG important for?
Cofactor for many enzymes
58
How is the maintenance of electrolyte gradients achieved?
Active transport of ions by protein pumps such as the Na+-K+ pump
59
What is the Na+-K+ pump also known as?
Na+-K+-ATPase since hydrolysis of ATP is required to provide the energy for transportation
60
How many K+ ions are transported for every 3 Na+ ions?
2
61
What is maintaining the gradient of Na+ and K+ is key to?
the functioning of electrically excitable cells e.g. muscle fibres and neurones and also the maintain of cell volume
62
What happens when ATP levels become depleted?
cells have a tendency to become more spherical because of the inward movement of sodium ions and water
63
How can passive immunity may be conferred from the donor to the recipient?
if a patient is recovering from a particular infection, then the plasma is likely to contain relatively high levels of polyclonal antibodies which recognise the pathogen --> these are harvested and transferred to patients

POM (Principles of Medicine) (17 decks)

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