Red cells:

blood

Red Blood Cells: Riding on The Red Road

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known as erythrocytes most abundant cells in the bloodstream binconcave disc in shape contain hemoglobin 6 to 8 micrometers in diameter and a v e r a g e thickness of 2 micrometers male adult has about 5 million red blood cells and female adult has a bo ut 4. 5 million red b l o o d cells per cubic milliliter of blood life about days span 120

Who am I?
I perform the most important job in our body. I travel through human body to deliver oxygen and remove waste. If I not exist, human body would slowly die. body by passes through the lungs, so oxygen molecules attach to the hemoglobin. Then, when I passes through the body's tissue, the hemoglobin releases the oxygen to the cells. The empty hemoglobin molecules then bond with the tissue's carbon dioxide or other waste gases, transporting it away. Over time, I get worn out and eventually die. The average life cycle of me is only 120 days. Human bones are continually producing me, to make sure supply is enough. However, I am not being remade all of the time because I also can recirculated throughout human body. So, that is the short story of my life as a red blood cell which exist in human blood.

Hemoglobin molecule

Red blood cells

Contents:

Who am I?

A New of Me

Am I Generous? The Journey through The River of Life

Distribution 4 and Flow of Me The End of My Life

I am red in colour only because I contain a protein chemical called hemoglobin which is bright red in color. Hemoglobin contains the element Iron, making it an excellent vehicle for transporting oxygen and carbon dioxide. I circulated throughout human

SOME FACTS ABOUT BLOOD:

Seven percent of a humans body weight is made up of blood If all the blood vessels in your body were laid end to end, they would reach about 60,000 miles Blood is such a good stain that Native Americans used it for paint By donating just one pint of blood, four lives can be saved

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A New of Me
I born through the process of erythropoiesis which takes about four days. Here are some steps to produce me; 1. Hemocytoblasts Stem cells in the bone marrow from which me form. 2. Proerythroblasts I produced by the division and differentiation of stem cells. 3. Basophilic (early) erythroblasts - During this stage in erythropoiesis hemoglobin synthesis begins. 4. Intermediate erythroblasts - At this time, the accumulation of hemoglobin due to its continued synthesis happen. 5. Late erythroblasts - During this stage the nucleus is force out from the cell. 6. Reticulocyte - I exhibit a net-like appearance or reticulum in cytoplasm when stained. A small number of reticulocytes (only 1 to 3% of the circulating red cells) are found in the circulation. 7. Mature erythrocytes - At this final stage of maturation where there is a loss of ribosomes. Lastly, I born happily to do my job and enter the circulation.

Bone marrow

Am I Generous?
Since the human body is continually making more me, it is safe for healthy adults to donate blood. Then, blood be stored for emergency tions. use in situaheadedness due to the loss of oxygenrich of me and blood sugar. But, the body can quickly stabilizes itself later.

Blood donation

Initially after transfer blood, the donor may feel some momentary light-

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The Journey through The River of Life

Blood circulation system When the body rests, I tend t o f l o w through socalled preferential, or preferred, channels. These are capillaries that have become larger than average. But if extra oxygen is needed by I flow through nearly all the capillaries in that area.
After passing through the capillaries from the arteries, I enter the venous system. First, I pass into very small vessels called venules which are the venous equivalent of arterioles. Then I make my way into small veins and back towards the heart along veins which are larger enough to be seen under the skin. Veins of this size contain valves which prevent me from flowing back towards the tissues. The valves have little half-moon shaped cups projecting into me flow in only one direction. All the veins from the various parts of the body eventually merge into two larger blood vessels, one called the superior, the other called the inferior vena cava. The fist collects me from the head, arms and neck and the second receives me from the lower part of the body. Both veins deliver me to the right side of the heart and from here dioxide and other waste products. it is pumped into the pulmonary artery (the only artery to carry me with no oxygen). This artery takes me to the lung. The final stage of the journey for me which is now are oxygen-rich to flow through the pulmonary vein (the only vein to carry oxygenated blood) into the left side of the heart. The circulation to the lungs is called the pulmonary circulation and the one to the rest of the body is called the systemic circulation. There are pulmonary and systemic arteries which carry me outwards from the heart and pulmonary and systemic veins which return it. Short cuts On leaving the intestines, I am not flow directly back to the heart but I am drained into what is known as the hepatic portal system of veins.

I start my journey around the body by leaving the left ventricle through the aorta. At this stage I am rich in oxygen. After giving rise to the coronary arteries, the aorta passes upward before doubling back on itself in an arch. Originating from this arch are the two main arteries to the head, the left and right carotid arteries, and one artery to each arm. The aorta descends down the chest and into the abdomen. In the abdomen there are three main arteries to the intestines and the liver, and one to each kidney before the aorta divides into the left and right arteries which supply some of me to the pelvis and the legs.

Then I make my way into small veins and back heart which towards along are the veins larger

enough to be seen under the skin.

The arterial system

From the arteries I flow into the smaller arterioles which lead to every organ and tissues in the body including the heart itself, and then enters the vast network of capillaries. In the along in oxygen stances capillaries, I jostle single file, giving up and other suband taking in carbon

Once I am from the intestines reaches the liver, I passes in among the liver cells, in special capillaries called sinusoids, and then enters another system of veins called the hepatic veins. These eventually lead on to the infer ior vena Flow of blood in blood cava, and thus into the heart. vessels

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Distribution and Flow of Me

I am not evenly spread throughout the system. At any given moment, about 12 per cent is in the arteries and veins which carry me to and from the lungs. About 59 per cent is in the veins, 15 per cent is in the arteries, 5 per cent in the capillaries and the remaining 9 per cent in the heart. I am not flow at the same rate in all parts of the system. I spurt from the heart and through the aorta at a brisk 33cm (13in) per second, but by the time it has reached the capillaries it has slowed down to a gentle 0.3cm (about a tenth of an inch) per second. The flow back through the veins gradually increases in speed so that I can be delivered back to the heart at 20cm

The End of My Life

This is the true story of me. It is very sad because when I, the red blood cells are old or damage, will be removed from your circulation. There are several way to remove me where; 1. 90% of me are removed from the circulation by the phagocytic activities of macrophages in the liver, spleen and lymph nodes. 2. 10% of the old cells hemolyze in the circulation. The fragments of these cells are then engulfed by macrophages. 3. The chemical components of me are broken down within vacuoles of the macrophages due to the action of lysosomal enzymes. The hemoglobin of these cells is degraded into: a. Globin which is further digested down to amino acids. These amino acids can then be utilized by the phagocytes for protein synthesis or released into the blood. b. Heme molecules, which is a prosthetic group that always bind on me, go through a series of changes. The macrophages convert heme into biliverdin and then bilirubin. Bilirubin is released into the blood where it forms a complex with blood albumin (bound bilirubin). In the liver cells (hepatocytes) the bound bilirubin reacts with glucuronic acid to form conjugated bilirubin. Most of the conjugated bilirubin is secreted into the small intestine with the bile. In the large bowel, bacteria convert bilirubin into the yellow-brown pigment (urobilinogen) that gives feces its characteristic color. Some of this pigment re-enters the blood from the colon and is removed by the kidney into the urine (characteristic color). c. Iron is removed from heme molecules in the phagocytes. The macrophages can store iron or release it to the blood. In the plasma, it binds to the protein transferring and is carried to the bone marrow where the iron can be used to synthesize new hemoglobin. Excess iron can be stored in the bone marrow and liver. Some iron is lost in the bile. For this reason, you human must take some iron in food since it can lost in your body and without it, your body would be deprived of oxygen and eventually, all vital system will shut down. Although I know that my life cycle is very short, which only about 120 days I always do the best to get my job done and served for human.

Sources of iron

Prepared by: Nur Sahrizan binti Serman Noor Hafizah binti Nasir Sandra Meru D20091035075 D20091035083 D20091035087

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