Blood Components and Function

• Albumin functions as a transport protein and a buffer, contributing to acid-base balance and blood osmotic pressure.
• Globulins act as transport proteins and antibodies, also including prothrombin and complement.
• Hematocrit indicates the percentage of red blood cells in blood volume.
• Hemoglobin transports 23% of total carbon dioxide by binding to amino acids of globin.
• Hematopoiesis is the formation of blood cells in red bone marrow.
• Red blood cell and platelet numbers are regulated by a negative feedback system.
• Pernicious anemia is an autoimmune disorder that affects stomach cells, which produce intrinsic factor which is necessary for hematopoiesis.
• Renal anemia results from a lack of EPO (erythropoietin).
• Aplastic anemia involves the destruction or inhibition of red bone marrow.
• Sickle cell anemia is caused by abnormal hemoglobin that leads to the sickling of red blood cells.
• Sickled red blood cells rupture easily and can block small blood vessels.
• Reduced blood osmolarity leads to edema.
• Reduced blood viscosity results in a faster heartbeat and lower blood pressure.
• Leukocytes have MHC antigen proteins protruding from their plasma membrane, serving as a unique cell ID marker.
• Neutrophils and macrophages phagocytose pathogens, being attracted to the site by chemotaxis.
• Neutrophils respond quickly to bacterial tissue damage.
• Monocytes arrive later but in larger numbers, destroying more microbes.

Basophils

• Leave capillaries and release granules containing heparin (anticoagulant), histamine (vasodilator), and serotonin at sites of inflammation.
• Intensify the inflammatory response.
• Involved in allergic reactions.

Eosinophils

• Leave capillaries and enter tissue fluid.
• Attack parasitic worms.
• Release histaminase and phagocytize antigen-antibody complexes.

Undesirable Clotting

• Anticoagulants are needed.
• Heparin, produced by basophils and mast cells, is a natural anticoagulant that inhibits prothrombin activator and the intrinsic pathway.
• Vitamin K is essential for the synthesis of four clotting factors; its deficiency leads to uncontrollable bleeding.
• Warfarin is a vitamin K antagonist that blocks the synthesis of clotting factors and is therefore an anticoagulant.
• Aspirin inhibits vasoconstriction and platelet aggregation by blocking thromboxane.
• Thromboxane agents dissolve blood clots.
• Aspirin is an anti-platelet agent.

Arrhythmias

• Arrhythmias are irregular heart rhythms.
• Fibrillation is the quivering of the heart due to irregular contractions.
• Systole (depolarization) is the contraction phase, pushing blood out of the ventricles.
• Diastole is the relaxation phase, allowing ventricular filling.
• If the right ventricular output exceeds left ventricular output, fluid accumulates in pulmonary tissue, causing pulmonary edema.
• Congestive heart failure results from fluid accumulation in either circuit due to insufficient ventricular pumping.
• End diastolic volume is determined by the amount of time in ventricular diastole and venous return.

Mechanisms Regulating Blood Pressure

• Neural mechanisms
• Hormonal mechanisms
• Autoregulation
• The vagus nerve (parasympathetic) affects heart rate.
• Cardiac accelerator nerves (sympathetic) affect heart rate.
• Vasomotor nerves (sympathetic) affect blood vessel diameter.

Neural Regulation of Blood Pressure

• Baroreceptors sense the stretch in blood vessels, indicating blood pressure; decreased stretch indicates lower blood pressure.
• Chemoreceptors detect hypoxia, hypercapnia, and acidosis.
• The cardiovascular center increases sympathetic stimulation, causing vasoconstriction.
• Operates via a negative feedback loop.

Atrial Natriuretic Peptide

• Lowers blood pressure by causing vasodilation and promoting the loss of salt and water in urine.
• Reduces blood volume.
• Edema is an abnormal increase in interstitial fluid volume, potentially due to increased capillary blood pressure, increased capillary permeability, or decreased concentration of plasma proteins.

Overview of blood components like albumin, globulins, hematocrit, and hemoglobin with their respective functions. Also includes discussion on hematopoiesis and types of anemia. Focuses on the role of each component in maintaining homeostasis