Physiology I

Blood & Immunity

1- Plasma

Prof. Dr. Maha Gamal

maha.ahmed@guc.edu.eg
 Composition of Blood

 Blood is part of the extracellular fluid. It is

continuously circulating in the blood vessels due to
the pumping action of the heart.
 Blood constitutes about 8% of the total body weight.
It represents 5.6 liters in an average lean male (70
Kg).
 Blood is composed of plasma (55%) and blood cells
(45%).
 The blood cells include: 1-The red blood corpuscles,
2-The white blood cells, and 3-The platelets.
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THE BLOOD CELLS

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THE HEMATOCRITE VALUE

 It is the percentage ratio of RBCs

volume to the total blood volume.
 It is obtained by the
centrifugation of blood at high
speed.
 The red blood cells will sediment
at the bottom of the tube leaving
the plasma on the top.
 It equals 47% in males and 42%
in females.
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 The Plasma
 The Plasma constitutes 55% of the blood
volume.
 It is a yellow clear fluid.
 On standing it clots, the remaining fluid is
called serum.
 The serum is the plasma from which clotting
factors are removed.
 The Plasma is composed of 90% H20, 9.1%
organic constituents, 0.9% inorganic
constituents and blood gases. 5
 Plasma

9.1% 0.9%
90% Organic Gases
Inorganic
H2O Constituents Constituents
 Na+  O2
 Plasma
Proteins
 Cl-
 Lipids
 HCO3-  CO2
 Glucose
 Amino Acids
Trace amounts of:  N2
 Hormones  Ca2+,Mg2+
 Vitamins  Phosphates
 Waste  SO4
Products  K+
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 Plasma Proteins
Type Site of formation Concentration Molecular
(gm/dL) weight

3.5 – 5.0 69,000

1- Albumin Liver

50% in the liver 2.5 90,000 –

2- Globulins 50% by the 156,000
plasma cells of the
lymphoid tissue in
the liver, spleen,
lymph nodes and
bone marrow

3- Fibrinogen Liver 0.4 340,000

4-Prothrombin Liver 0.01 72,000

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 FUNCTIONS OF PLASMA
PROTEINS
1- Osmotic function:
1-The osmotic pressure of plasma is 5000 mmHg.
2-The osmotic pressure of plasma proteins (colloidal osmotic P or oncotic P) is only 25-28 mmHg, it
is mainly due to albumin.
3-This oncotic pressure is very important in the determination of the flow of fluids across the
capillary membrane as plasma proteins cannot pass across the capillary membrane because of
their large size so they pull water to inside the capillary.
4- The remaining of the 5000 is due to crystalloids (e.g. sodium, chloride, and glucose) and is called
crystalloid P but it is not important because these substances have small size and move freely
across the capillary membrane, thus they cause no significant difference in water concentration
as the net osmotic effect equals zero.

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 FUNCTIONS OF PLASMA
PROTEINS (cont.)
2- Transport function:
1-It is the function of albumin, α & β globulins.
2-They transport many substances e.g. hormones, vitamins
and lipids.
3-Importance:
a- They help in the distribution of these materials.
b- They prevent their loss in urine.
c- They act as a reservoir of these substances.
3- Defensive function:
It is the function of gamma globulins (see immunity).

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 Functions of Plasma Proteins
(cont.)

4- Buffering function:
The plasma proteins have free amino (R- NH2) and carboxylic groups (R-
COOH) which can dissociate according to the pH of the medium so they can
act as weak acids or weak bases, this is called the amphoteric property.
In the pH of plasma (7.4) they act as weak acids (proteinic acid) and they
bind with bases to form salts thus they produce the buffer system proteinic
acid- -Na+ proteinate.

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 Functions of Plasma Proteins
(cont.)
5- Capillary function:
Plasma proteins are important for normal capillary
permeability as they partly close the capillary pores.
6- Source of amino acids for formation of tissue
proteins:
Plasma proteins are dynamic structures. They are
continuously destroyed to amino acids and re-synthesized
from amino acids. They are taken by the liver where they
split into amino acids that are transported back to the blood
to be taken and utilized by the various tissues in the
formation of new proteins.
7- Clotting function:
It is the function of fibrinogen and prothrombin 11
Specific Functions of plasma proteins

Functions
Albumin  Maintains Osmotic Pressure.
 Transport smaller molecules such as

hormones and ions.

Globulins  α and ß globulins transport hormones and
fat soluble vitamins.
 γ globulins (antibodies) bind to foreign

substances.
Fibrinogen  Converted into fibrin network that forms
blood clots.

Prothrombin  Blood clotting.

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