Chapters 14

and 15
THE
CARDIOVASCULAR
SYSTEM
 Objectives

▪ List the components of blood.

▪ Distinguish between red blood cells, white blood cells, and

platelets in terms of their structure and function.

▪ Explain what determines the compatibility of blood types

for transfusion.

▪ Summarize the process of blood clotting.

Composition of Blood

▪ Blood is composed of
a liquid medium—
plasma—and blood
solids–red and white
blood cells and
platelets.
 Plasma

▪ Plasma is a sticky, straw-colored

fluid that is about 90 percent
water and includes metabolites,
nutrients, wastes, salts, and
proteins.

▪ Plasma provides cells with

nourishment and carries various
proteins.
Red Blood Cells

▪ A red blood cell is a disc-shaped cell that has no

nucleus and transports oxygen to cells in all parts of
the body.

▪ Immature red blood cells synthesize large amounts

of an iron-containing protein called hemoglobin.
Hemoglobin is the molecule that transports oxygen.
White Blood Cells

▪ White blood cells are cells in the blood that destroy

bacteria, viruses, and toxic proteins and helps the body
develop immunities.

▪ In addition to different functions, white blood cells also

have a different structure and life span than red blood
cells.
White Blood Cells, continued

▪ There are several types of white blood cells, including

phagocytes and antibodies.

▪ Phagocytes are cells that engulf and digest foreign

matter or microorganisms.

▪ Antibodies are proteins that react to a specific type of

invader or inactivate or destroy toxins.
Platelets

▪ Aid in clotting blood

▪ Blood clot – a mass of interwoven fibers and blood cells

that prevents excess loss of blood from a wound.

▪ Not whole cells – fragments of very large cells that were

formed in the bone marrow.
Composition of Blood
Blood Types

▪ Red blood cells have surface proteins that are used to

classify a person’s blood. The type of surface protein
determines a person’s blood type.

▪ The surface proteins on a red blood cell or on an

invading pathogen are called antigens.

▪ The most important human antigens are A, B, and Rh.

They form two systems of blood typing: the A-B-O system
and the Rh system.
A-B-O System

▪ The A-B-O system is a means of classifying blood by

the antigens located on the surface of the red blood
cells and the antibodies circulating in the plasma.

▪ If blood of a different type is introduced into the

body it will be treated as a foreign invader and the
antigen-antibody reaction will be produced, with
some exceptions.
Rh System

▪ The Rh system is based on the presence or absence of the

Rh antigen.

▪ A person with Rh antigens is Rh positive (85% of the

population, dominant trait); a person without Rh antigens
is Rh negative.

▪ Similar complications to those of the ABO system can

occur if blood containing the wrong Rh antigens is
transfused into a person (agglutination).
Rh System
Erythroblastosis fetalis

Rh- mother and Rh+ father

1st baby – Rh+, mother develops antibodies
2nd baby – Rh+, mother’s antibodies attack the
Rh+ blood of the fetus

There is an antibody treatment available for this

condition
Blood Types
Blood Clotting
Step 1 – Blood Vessel Damage (stimulus)
Step 2 – Platelets release clotting protein
(enzyme)
Step 3 – Clotting reaction occurs
Step 4 – Fibrin (structural protein) net forms,
trapping blood cells and platelets
Step 5 – Blood clot (result)