Chapter 14:

The Cardiovascular
System: Blood
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2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Cardiovascular System: Blood

Functions of blood
Components of whole blood
Hemostasis
Blood groups and blood types

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Functions of Blood
Blood transports oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients,
wastes, and hormones.

It helps to regulate pH, body temperature, and water
content of cells.

It prevents blood loss through clotting and combats
microbes and toxins through the action of certain
phagocytic white blood cells or specialized plasma
proteins.
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Functions of Blood
Blood is a liquid connective tissue that consists
of cells surrounded by extracellular matrix. Blood
has three general functions: transportation,
regulation, and protection.

Transportation. Blood transports oxygen from the lungs to cells
throughout the body and carbon dioxide (a waste product of
cellular respiration; see Chapter 20) from the cells to the lungs. It
also carries nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract to body cells,
heat and waste products away from cells, and hormones from
endocrine glands to other body cells.
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Functions of Blood

Regulation. Blood helps regulate the pH of
body fluids. The heat-absorbing and coolant
properties of the water in blood plasma (see
Section 2.2) and its variable rate of flow
through the skin help adjust body temperature.
Blood osmotic pressure also influences the
water content of cells.
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Functions of Blood


Protection. Blood clots (becomes gel-like) in
response to an injury, which protects against
its excessive loss from the cardiovascular
system. In addition, white blood cells protect
against disease by carrying on phagocytosis
and producing proteins called antibodies.
Blood contains additional proteins, called
interferons and complement, that also help
protect against disease.
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Components of Whole Blood
Physical characteristics of whole blood include a viscosity greater than that
of water, a temperature of 38 (100.4F), and a pH range between 7.35 and
7.45. Blood constitutes about 8% of body weight in an adult, and consists of
55% plasma and 45% formed elements.

The formed elements in blood include red blood cells (erythrocytes), white
blood cells (leukocytes), and platelets. Hematocrit is the percentage of red
blood cells in whole blood.

Plasma contains 91.5% water, 7% proteins, and 1.5% solutes other than
proteins. Principal solutes include proteins (albumins, globulins,
fibrinogen), nutrients, hormones, respiratory gases, electrolytes, and waste
products.

Hemopoiesis, the formation of blood cells from pluripotent stem cells,
occurs in red bone marrow.
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Components of Whole Blood
Red blood cells (RBCs) are biconcave discs without nuclei
that contain hemoglobin. The function of the hemoglobin in
red blood cells is to transport oxygen. Red blood cells live
about 120 days. A healthy male has about 5.4 million
RBCs/mL of blood and a healthy female has about 4.8 million
RBCs/mL. After phagocytosis of aged red blood cells by
macrophages, hemoglobin is recycled.

RBC formation, called erythropoiesis, occurs in adult red
bone marrow. It is stimulated by hypoxia, which stimulates
release of erythropoietin by the kidneys. A reticulocyte count
is a diagnostic test that indicates the rate of erythropoiesis.
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Components of Whole Blood
White blood cells (WBCs) are nucleated cells. The two
principal types are granular leukocytes (neutrophils,
eosinophils, basophils) and agranular leukocytes
(lymphocytes and monocytes). The general function of
WBCs is to combat inflammation and infection. Neutrophils
and macrophages (which develop from monocytes) do so
through phagocytosis.

Eosinophils combat inflammation in allergic reactions,
phagocytize antigenantibody complexes, and combat
parasitic worms; basophils liberate heparin, histamine, and
serotonin in allergic reactions that intensify the inflammatory
response.
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Components of Whole Blood
B cells (B lymphocytes) are effective against bacteria and
other toxins. T cells (T lymphocytes) are effective against
viruses, fungi, and cancer cells. Natural killer cells attack
microbes and tumor cells.

White blood cells usually live for only a few hours or a few
days. Normal blood contains 5000 to 10,000 WBCs/mL.

Platelets are disc-shaped cell fragments without nuclei that
are formed from megakaryocytes and take part in hemostasis
by forming a platelet plug. Normal blood contains 150,000 to
400,000 platelets/mL.
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Components of Whole Blood
Formed Elements
The formed elements of the blood are the following (see Figure 14.2):
I. Red blood cells (erythrocytes)
II. White blood cells (leukocytes)
A. Granular leukocytes (contain conspicuous granules that are visible
under a light microscope after staining)
1. Neutrophils
2. Eosinophils
3. Basophils
B. Agranular leukocytes (no granules are visible under a light
microscope after staining)
1. T and B lymphocytes and natural killer cells
2. Monocytes
III. Platelets
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Components of Whole Blood
12
Functions of Blood:
1. Transports oxygen,
carbon dioxide,
nutrients, hormones,
heat, and wastes.
2. Regulates pH, body
temperature, and water
content of cells.
3. Protects against blood
loss through clotting,
and against disease
through phagocytic
white blood cells and
proteins such as
antibodies, interferons,
and complement.
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Components of Whole Blood
13
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Components of Whole Blood
14
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Components
of Whole Blood
15
Origin,
development, and
structure of blood
cells
Formation and destruction of red blood cells,
and the recycling of hemoglobin components.
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Negative Feedback
Regulation of
Erythropoiesis

17
Summary of Formed Elements in Blood
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Summary of Formed Elements in Blood

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Hemostasis
Hemostasis, the stoppage of bleeding, involves vascular
spasm, platelet plug formation, and blood clotting. In vascular
spasm, the smooth muscle of a blood vessel wall contracts.
Platelet plug formation is the aggregation of platelets to stop
bleeding. A clot is a network of insoluble protein fibers (fibrin)
in which formed elements of blood are trapped. The
chemicals involved in clotting are known as clotting factors.

Blood clotting involves a series of reactions that may be
divided into three stages: formation of prothrombinase by
either the extrinsic pathway or the intrinsic pathway,
conversion of prothrombin into thrombin, and conversion of
soluble fibrinogen into insoluble fibrin.
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Hemostasis
Normal coagulation involves clot retraction
(tightening of the clot) and fibrinolysis (dissolution
of the clot).

Anticoagulants (for example, heparin) prevent
clotting.

Clotting in an unbroken blood vessel is called
thrombosis. A thrombus that moves from its site of
origin is called an embolus.
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Blood Clotting
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Blood Groups and Blood Types
In the ABO system, the antigens on RBCs,
called A and B, determine blood type.
Plasma contains antibodies termed anti-A
antibodies and anti-B antibodies.

In the Rh system, individuals whose
erythrocytes have Rh antigens (the Rh
factor) are classified as Rh
+
. Those who lack
the antigen are Rh
-
.
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Blood Groups and Blood Types
24
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ABO Blood Typing
25
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Blood Groups and Blood Types
26
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reserved.
End of Chapter 14
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