Clinical and Biomedical Technicians

Teacher: M Ángeles Escuriola

Academic Year: 2024/ 2025

BLOOD SAMPLES

1. The blood

1.1- Circulatory system and organs

1.2- Functions of the blood

1.3- Characteristics

1.4- Blood components and their functions

2. Blood tests and determinations

2.1- Previous considerations

2.2- Analysis and determinations

2.3- Abbreviations

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1. The blood

With each heartbeat, blood is sent throughout our bodies,carrying oxygen and nutrients to every

cell.Every day, the approximately 4,5-6 liters of blood in your body travel many times through

about 96,560 kilometers of blood vessels that branch and cross, linking the cells of our organs and

body parts.

1.1 Circulatory system and organs

1. The pulmonary circulation is a short loop from the heart to the lungs and back again. Its
function is transporting deoxygenated blood to absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide.
The oxygenated blood then flows back ( fluye de retorno) to the heart.

2. The systemic circulation ( the system we usually think of as our circulatory system) sends
oxygenated blood from the heart to all the other parts of our bodies and returns deoxygenated blood
to the heart.
The circulatory system is made up of the heart and blood vessels, including arteries, veins and
capillaires.
A- The heart is the key organ in the circulatory system. As a hollow (hueco) , muscular pump
(bomba) , its main job is to move blood through the body. It usually beats from 60 to 100 times per
minute, but can go much faster if needed. It beats about 100,000 times a day, more than 30 million
times per year, and about 2.5 billion times in a 70-year lifetime.

The heart gets messages from the body that tell it when to pump more or less blood depending on
an individual´s needs. When we´re sleeping , it pumps just enough to provide for the lower amounts
of oxygen needed by our bodies at rest. When we´re exercising or frightened, the heart pumps faster
to increase the delivery of oxygen.

The heart has four chambers that are enclosed by thick, muscular walls. It lies between the lungs
and just to the left of the middle of the chest cavity:

- The bottom part of the heart is divided into two chambers: the right ventricle and the left
ventricle. These pump blood out of the heart . A wall called interventricular septum divides the
ventricles.
- The upper part of the heart is made up of the other two chambers of the heart: the right atrium
and the left atrium. The atria receive the blood entering the heart . A wall called the interatrial
septum divides the atria.

- The atria(los ventrículos) are separated from the ventricles by the atrioventricular valves:
The tricuspid valve separates the right atrium from the right ventricle, and the mitral or bicuspid
valve separates the left atrium from the left ventricle.

- Two other cardiac valves separate the ventricles and the large blood vessels that carry blood
leaving the heart. These are the pulmonic valve , which separates the right ventricle from the
pulmonary artery leading to the lungs, and the aortic valve, which separates the left ventricle from
the aorta, the body´s largest blood vessel.

B- Blood vessels

- Arteries carry blood away from the heart. They are the thickest blood vessels, with muscular
walls that contract to keep the blood moving away from the heart and through the body. In the
systemic circulation, oxygen-rich blood is pumped from the heart into the aorta. This huge artery
curves up and back from the left ventricle, then heads down in front of the spinal column into the
abdomen.Two coronary arteries branch off ( se bifurcan) at the beginning of the aorta and divide
into a network of smaller arteries that provide oxygen and nourishment to the muscles of the heart.

Unlike the aorta, the body´s other main artery, the pulmonary artery, carries oxygen-poor blood.
From the right ventricle, the pulmonary artery dividesinto right and left branches, on the way to the
lungs where blood picks up oxygen.

As they get farther from the heart, the arteries branch out ( se bifurcan o ramifican) into arterioles,
which are smaller and less elastic.

- Veins: they carry blood back to the heart . They´re not as muscular as arteries, they are thinner
and less flexible. The two largest veins are the superior and the inferior vena cava, located above
and below the heart.

-Capillaires: they are tiny blood vessels which connect the arteries and veins.

Though tiny, the capillaries are one of the most important parts of the circulatory system because it
´s through them that nutrients and oxygen are delivered to the cells. Waste products such as carbon
dioxide are also removed by the capillaries.

1.2- Functions of the blood

1. Transportation

- It is the duty of blood to first take and transport the oxygen processed by the lungs to all the cells
of the body and then to collect the carbon dioxide from the cells and deliver it to the lungs.

-It also has the job of collecting metabolic waste and take it to the kidneys for excretion.
- Blood also has to perform the task of delivering the nutrients and glucose generated by the organs
of the digestive system to the other parts of the body including the liver.

- In addition to these tasks, blood also has to carry out the transportation of hormones produced by
the glands of the endocrine system.

2. Protection

Blood performs the important task of protecting the body from the threat of infections and disease
causing bacteria. The white blood cells found in blood are responsible for safeguarding the different
organs of the body by producing antibodies and proteins which are capable of fighting off and
killing the germs and viruses that can cause serious damage to the body cells.The platelets present
in blood handle the task of limiting blood loss in the wake of an injury by helping the blood to clot
(coagularse) quickly.

3. Regulation

Blood is also a regulator of many factors in the body:

1. Thermal balance: it regulates the temperature of the body and mantains it to a level that is
tolerated by the body with ease.

2. Blood is also responsible for controlling the concentration of Hydrogen ions in the body, which
are also known as pH balance.

3. Hydric balance: The blood is responsible for the administration of the levels of water and salt
required by each cell of the body.

4. Another regulatory task performed by blood is to control the blood pressure and restrict it under
a normal range.

1.3. Characteristics of blood

General characteristics:

- It´s a red viscous liquid. Its viscosity depends on quantity of cells.

- It has a temperature of 37 degrees Celsius.

- Its pH ranges from 7´3-7´4

- Blood plasma has a concentration of sodium chloride of about 3´5 %

- It has a constant osmotic pressure

Arterial and venous blood have a different composition:

- arterial blood is richer in oxygen and necessary metabolites like glucose and lipids
- venous blood has more carbon dioxide and metabolic waste products

1.4 Blood components and their function

Blood is a fluid tissue which is made up of a liquid fraction (55%) called plasma , which is highly
viscous, and a solid fraction ( 45%) which is made up of 3 different types of blood cells that are
floating around in it: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

1. Liquid fraction : Plasma

Plasma is the most abundant component of blood. Almost 90%of the plasma is water and the rest is
number of solutes. Plasma tends to separate from the solid fraction when it is left to rest, but in the
lab this process is accelerated through centrifugation.
Among the solutes in plasma , which conform about a 10%, we have:
1.1 Proteins, whose main functions are:

- carrying glucose and other nutrients ( vitamins, cholesterol, amino acids, triglycerides and fatty
acids) to all the cells ( albumin).
-fighting against the germs and infections thanks to the antibodies that are present in it.
(immunoglobulins)

- Healing of wounds and stopping bleeding through clotting is another function of plasma which is
made possible due to the presence of clotting agents in it, called coagulation factors. In the
coagulation process , fibrinogen (coagulation factor I) is transformed into fibrin after a series of
enzymatic processes, changing the physical quality of blood from liquid to a gel capable of clotting.

1.2 Nutrients and ions

1.3 Gases ( carbon dioxide and oxygen)

1.4 Regulating substances (hormones, enzymes , vitamins)

1.5 Metabolic waste substances ( uric acid, bilirubin, creatinine)

2. Solid fraction

2.1 Red blood cells ( 5,000,000 cm m)

Red blood cells ( abbreviated as RBCs), also called erythrocytes , are formed in the bone marrow.
They are anucleated and have the shape of biconcave discs. Their main function is carrying oxygen
to the cells all over the human body.Red cells contain hemoglobin and it is the hemoglobin which
permits them to transport the oxygen ( and carbon dioxide). Hemoglobin , aside from being a
transport molecule , is a pigment.It gives the cells their red color ( and their name).

2.2 White Blood Cells or leukocytes (5,000-10´000 cm m)

White blood cells ( WBCs) , also called leukocytes, have a bigger size than RBCs. They have a
more less rounded shape and they have a nucleus. They protect the body from infectious agents.
WBCs play an important role in the immune system by identifying , destroying and removing
pathogens, damaged cells, cancerous cells and foreign matter from the body. Leukpcytes originate
from bone marrow stem cells and circulate in blood and lymph fluid. Leukocytes are able to leave
blood vessels to migrate to body tissues.

WBCs are categorized by the presence or absence of granules ( sacs containing digestive enzymes
or other chemical substances ) in their cytoplasm.A white blood cell is considered to be a
granulocyte or an agranulocyte:

A. Agranulocytes

The cytoplasm of WBCs appears to have no obvious granules. Agranulocytes typically have a large
nucleus due to the lack of noticeable cytoplasmic granules. There are two types:

1-Lymphocytes and 2-Monocytes

- Lymphocytes- After neutrophils, lymphocytes are the most common type of white blood cell.
They are formed in the lymphatic nodes and are spherical in shape with large nuclei and very little
cytoplasm. They produce antibodies.

- Monocytes- These cells, formed in the bone marrow ( médula ósea), are the largest of the WBCs.
They have a large, single nucleus that can have various shapes. The nucleus often appears to be
kidney-shaped. They are macrophages and they actively perform phagocytic functions : they ingest
pathogens( viruses, fungi, protozoa).

B . Granulocytes

There are three types of granulocytes : neutrophils, eosinophils and basophils, all formed in the
bone marrow. As seen under a microscope, the granules in these WBCs are apparent when stained.
(se ven cuando se realiza una tinción).

- Neutrophils- These cells have a single nucleus that appears to have multiple lobes.( Núcleo
segmentado). Neutrophils are the most abundant granulocyte in blood circulation.They are
chemically drawn to bacteria and migrate through tissue to the site of infection. Neutrophils are
phagocytic in that they engulf ( tragan) the target cell ( la célula objetivo, la que quieren destruir)
( bacteria, diseased or dead cell, etc) and destroy it.

- Eosinophils – The nucleus in these cells is double – lobed and often appears U-shaped in blood
smears(frotis de sangre). Eosinophils are often found in connective tissues of the stomach and
intestines. Eosinophils are phagocytic and engulf antigen-antibody complexes.Eosinophils become
increasingly active during parasitic infections and allergic reactions.

- Basophils- Basophils are the least numerous of the white blood cells. They have a multi-lobed
nucleus , and their granules contain substances such as histamine and heparin. Heparin ( an
anticoagulant)thins blood and inhibits blood clot formation.Histamine ( a vasodilator) dilates
blood vessels , increases the permeability of capillaries , and increases blood flow , which helps to
transport leukocytes to infected areas. Basophils are responsible for the body´s allergic response.
2.3 -Platelets or thrombocytes

- The lighest and smallest components of blood.

- The wall of the blood vessels is made os special cells named endothelium.

- Important function in the case of an injury: they make a type of seal which stops the blood
from flowing out of the body.