Cardiovascular Flashcards
(121 cards)
how much of the blood is fluid and how much is plasma?
45% cellular 55% fluid
what is the lifespan of erythrocytes?
120 days but usually regenerated every 30 days
what is the lifespan of platelets?
7-10 days
3 important haemopoietic growth factors
- Erythropoietin (EPO)
- red cells
- Granulocyte Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF)
- white cells
- Thrombopoietin
- platelets
Male and Female normal erythrocyte count
- Female
- ~4 x 1012 / L
- Male
- ~5 x 1012 / L
Haemoglobin structure
- a tetramer of two alpha chains and two beta chains
- each has a central porphyrin ring with an Fe2+
five types of anaemia

what is haematocrit
the ratio of the volume of red blood cells to the total volume of blood
often presented as a percentage
what is mean corpuscular haemoglobin
a measure of the average mass of haemoglobin per red cell
what is corpuscular volume
the measure of the average volume of a red blood cell
Acute anaemia
due to blood loss
low haemoglobin but haematocrit remains at 45%
Chronic anaemia
due to inflammatory disorders or malignancy
reduced Hb and reduced haematocrit (~20%)
iron deficiency anaemia
- poor diet, malabsorbtion, chronic bleeding
- low mean corpuscular volume
- low mean corpuscular haemoglobin
- hematocrit remains at 45%
Megaloblastic anaemia
- Macrocytosis
- abnormally large RBCs (high MCV)
- reduced production of normal RBCs leads to low Hb
- this can be caused by liver disease, alcohol abuse and hypothyroidism
B12 and Folate
- These are required for DNA synthesis
- they affect all dividing cells but blood cells first
- bone marrow is the most active source of dividing cells
- B12 absorbtion requires intrinsic factor from gastric parietal cells
- pernicious anaemia is AA disorder where these are destroyed
Haemolytic anaemia
- red blood cell lifespan reduced to <30 days (120 is normal)
- increased RBC production
- increases haem turnover leading to jaundice and anaemia
- can be inherited or congential
Neutrophil lifespan
6-10 hours
Monocyte lifespan
20-40 weeks
Lymphocyte lifespan
weeks to years
Basophil and eosinophil lifespan
days
what is the most numerous white blood cell in the blood
neutrophils
how many lymphocytes are T cells and how many are B cells?
- 20% of lymphocytes are B cells
- 80% of lymphocytes are T cells
summarise what all the different types of white blood cells do
monocytes also turn into macrophages (phagocytosis) and dendritic cells (APC)

what kind of proteins are soluble in plasma?
albumin
immunoglobulins
clotting proteins
carrier proteins






