Download White Blood Cells

Red Blood Cells
• Adapted exclusively for producing and
packaging hemoglobin which transports
oxygen
• Adult male: 4.6 – 6 million
• Adult female: 4.2 – 5 million
Red blood cells are:
• Tiny, flexible biconcave discs
• Lacks a nucleus
• Can bend when going through tiny capillaries
RBC’s are constantly manufactured
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‘erythroposis’
Every second = 2.4 million RBC’s
Life span: 120 days
Manufactured in red bone marrow of the
vertebrae, ribs, sternum, skull and proximal
epiphysis of long bones
Hemoglobin
• Gives red blood cells their red color
• Heme - contains iron
• Each hemoglobin molecule can combine with
4 molecules of oxygen
• Hemoglobin synthesis requires amino acids,
specific enzymes, vitamins and minerals (Fe,
Cu)
Anemia
• Deficiency of hemoglobin
• Lower RBC count
• Oxygen transport is reduced
• Symptoms:
• Tired, no energy
• Pale, nails are brittle
Causes: diet, loss of blood, lower
production of RBC
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
• Carbon Monoxide combines with hemoglobin
200X more readily thank oxygen.
• Smokers have 4.5% less oxygen than non
smokers
Sickle Cell Anemia
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Mutation in the gene for making hemoglobin
Makes the wrong shape cell
Primarily affects people of African decent
Carriers do not have the disease
Persons with 2 mutant genes, have the
disease, but can fight off the Malaria parasite
Thalassemia
• Inherited disease
• A decrease in one or more hemoglobin
polypeptide chain
• Mainly in persons of Mediterranean, African
or Southwest Asia
• Results in severs anemia
• Treated with blood transfusions
White Blood Cells
Leukocytes
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Defend body against disease causing agents
Have a nucleus
Develop from stem cells in red bone marrow
Performs duties in various body tissue
Phagocytize (eat) dead cells, bacteria and
foreign matter
• Normal count: 7000 WBC per cubic ml of
blood
3 types of granular leukocytes: contain
enzymes that destroy bacteria
Neutrophil
• 60% of WBC
• Lifespan is 10 hours in blood
• Seek out and destroy ingested bacteria in
connective tissues
• 100 billion manufactured daily
Eosinophil
• 1-3 % of WBC
• Help control allergic reactions
• Release an enzyme histamine – a chemical
released during allergic reactions
Basophil
• Less than 1% of WBC
• Involved in allergic and inflammatory
reactions
• Contains large amounts of histamines which
may be released in injured tissue in order to
increase inflammation
• Contains heparin an anti-clotting chemical
Non-Granular Leukocytes
• Lymphocytes – 30% of all leukocytes
• Made from stem cells, but are released from
lymph nodes, thymus and spleen
• Produce antibodies and destroy foreign cells
found in infectious mononucleosis
lymphocyte
Monocyte
• 6% of WBC’s
• Enter connective tissue
• Eat bacteria, dead cells and other littering
tissue
Monocytes
Abnormal WBC count
• A count over 10,000 per cubic ml is called
leukocytosis. Indicates a bacterial infection
• Viruses- depresses WBC count - leukopenia
Leukemia
• Form of cancer in which any one kind of WBC
proliferates wildly within the bone marrow
• Increases number of WBC which crowds out
RBC’s and platelets leading to anemia and
impaired blood clotting
• Dramatic increase in WBC count, but many
WBC’s are immature or abnormal and unable
to protect the body against disease
• Death is usually from bacterial infections
Leukemia