Blood Cells Lesson 41
Our bright red blood contains seven types of cells, such as:
I. Red blood cells.
II. White blood cells or leukocytes.
III. Thrombocytes or platelets (clotting cells).
We will see importance of each type of cell one by one now.
I. Red blood cells or Erythrocytes: These cells are made in the bone marrow (soft tissue in the center of certain bones) and are necessary to carry oxygen from the lungs through the blood to all body cells. The oxygen is then used up by body cells in the process of converting food to energy (catabolism). Hemoglobin (globin is a protein) is an important protein in erythrocytes that carries the oxygen through the bloodstream.
II. White Blood Cells or Leukocytes: Leukocytes are of two types.
a). Granulocytes
b). Agranulocytes
Granulocyes- Granulocytes-these cells containing dark-staining granules in their cytoplasm, and these cells are formed in bone marrow. They are further divided into three types of cells such as
A). Eosinophils-these cells granules of stain red (eosin/o means rosy) with acid stain) are thought to be active and elevated in allergic conditions such as asthma. About 3% of leukocytes are Eosinophils.
B). Basophils-these cells containing granules staining blue with basic (bas/o means basic) stain). The function of basophils is not clear, but they play a role in inflammation. Less than 1% of leukocytes are basophils.
C). Neutrophils-these cells containing granules staining blue and red (purple) with neutral stain) are important disease-fighting cells. They are called phagocytes (phag/o means eating or swallowing) because they engulf and digest bacteria like tiny Pac men. They are most numerous disease-fighting soldiers, and are also called as polymorphonuclear leukocytes because of their nucleus, which is multilobed (poly means many, moroph/o means shape). Almost 60% of leukocytes are neutrophils.
Agranulocytes are cells without dark-staining granules in cytoplasm) and are produced by lymph nodes and spleen. They divided into two types of cells such as:
A). Lymphocytes-these cells (lymph cells) fight disease by producing antibodies and thus destroying foreign cells. They may also attach directly to foreign cells and destroy them. Two types of lymphocytes are T cells and B cells. About 32% of leukocytes are lymphocytes.
B). Monocytes-these cells with one (mono means one) very large nucleus) engulf and destroy cellular debris after neutrophils have attacked foreign cells. Monocytes leave the bloodstream and enter tissues (such as lung and liver) to become macrophages, which are large phagocytes. Monocytes make up about 4% of all leukocytes.
III. Thrombocytes or Platelets-These cells are tiny fragments of blood cells are formed in bone marrow and are necessary for blood clotting.
We have seen something about blood cells now. In the next lesson we will see about anemia, ok
Come on…
To go to the next lesson from here please click the link below.
Comments