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Book

Physiology, Blood Plasma

Joscilin Mathew, Parvathy Sankar  1 , Matthew A. Varacallo  2
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
.
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Book

Physiology, Blood Plasma

Joscilin Mathew et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Plasma, also known as blood plasma, appears light-yellowish or straw-colored. It serves as the liquid base for whole blood. Whole blood minus erythrocytes (RBCs), leukocytes (WBCs), and thrombocytes (platelets) make up the plasma. Serum, sometimes mistakenly considered synonymous with plasma, consists of plasma without fibrinogen. Plasma contains 91% to 92% of water and 8% to 9% of solids. It mainly comprises of:

  1. Coagulants, mainly fibrinogen, aid in blood clotting

  2. Plasma proteins, such as albumin and globulin, that help maintain the colloidal osmotic pressure at about 25 mmHg

  3. Electrolytes like sodium, potassium, bicarbonate, chloride, and calcium help maintain blood pH

  4. Immunoglobulins help fight infection and various other small amounts of enzymes, hormones, and vitamins

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Joscilin Mathew declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Parvathy Sankar declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Matthew Varacallo declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

    1. Burnouf T. Modern plasma fractionation. Transfus Med Rev. 2007 Apr;21(2):101-17. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Benjamin RJ, McLaughlin LS. Plasma components: properties, differences, and uses. Transfusion. 2012 May;52 Suppl 1:9S-19S. - PubMed
    1. Peters T. Intracellular precursor forms of plasma proteins: their functions and possible occurrence in plasma. Clin Chem. 1987 Aug;33(8):1317-25. - PubMed
    1. Tobias A, Ballard BD, Mohiuddin SS. StatPearls [Internet] StatPearls Publishing; Treasure Island (FL): 2022. Oct 3, Physiology, Water Balance. - PubMed
    1. Stanley M, Killeen RB, Michalski JM. StatPearls [Internet] StatPearls Publishing; Treasure Island (FL): 2023. Apr 7, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura. - PubMed

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