What is Plasma in Blood?

Plasma is the fluid portion of blood, containing water, vital proteins, and other elements that play a role in blood clotting, immune defense, blood pressure regulation, and the transport of nutrients.

What is Plasma?

Plasma makes up roughly 55% of blood, with the remaining 45% consisting of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets suspended within it. Plasma consists of approximately 92% water, as well as 7% essential proteins such as albumin, gamma globulin, and anti-hemophilic factor, and 1% mineral salts, sugars, fats, hormones, and vitamins.

Properties of Plasma

Plasma is a pale yellow liquid that constitutes more than half of the volume of your blood. Blood consists of various components, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma.

After all blood components are extracted from whole blood, including platelets (thrombocytes), white blood cells (leukocytes), and red blood cells (erythrocytes), plasma is produced. The remaining straw-colored liquid is plasma, composed of 90–92% water, yet it holds essential solutes vital for maintaining health and life.. Plasma is the most substantial component of blood. Although the red blood cells dominate the overall color of blood, plasma is an important component. It is a mixture of water, proteins such as albumin, fibrinogen, and globulin, as well as dissolved salts, minerals, electrolytes, and immunoglobulins, which help fight infections. Plasma contains 6–8 percent proteins.

Key components include electrolytes like sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, magnesium, and calcium. Trace amounts of additional substances such as organic acids, pigments, enzymes, vitamins, and amino acids are also present.

The cells in your umbilical cord that form the embryo produce plasma cells. In adults, plasma proteins are produced in the spleen, liver cells, aging blood cells, and the bone marrow (soft tissue of the bones).

Functions of Plasma

A variety of vital roles are played by the various components of blood plasma, and blood plasma has many uses.

• Transporting Nutrients: Millions of cells make up our body. Our cells require nutrition to grow, repair, and perform daily tasks. The digestive system’s nutrients can be absorbed by blood plasma, which distributes them throughout the body. Among these nutrients are carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and amino acids.
• Managing Waste Products: When cells perform their tasks, they frequently produce waste products, which, when present in greater quantities, can be harmful to the body. These waste products can be taken up by blood plasma, which can then transport them to the kidneys or skin for breakdown and elimination.
• Respiration: In addition to releasing carbon dioxide, our cells require a constant flow of oxygen. Hemoglobin in blood plasma and red blood cells assists in transferring carbon dioxide from the body’s cells to the lungs and oxygen from the lungs to the body’s cells.
• Transporting Hormones: Hormones function as messengers between bodily parts. Numerous biological functions, including growth and metabolism, are impacted by hormones. Hormones can travel throughout the body via blood plasma.

Uses of Plasma

Patients suffering from burns, trauma, shock, severe liver disease, or multiple clotting factor deficiencies are frequently administered plasma. It aids in blood clotting and boosts the patient’s blood volume, both of which help prevent shock. Pharmaceutical companies use plasma to create treatments for diseases like bleeding disorders and immune deficiencies. 

Some of the uses of plasma are as follows:

• Developing Treatments: Blood plasma proteins and antibodies can be utilized to create medicines for uncommon illnesses, such as immune system issues.
• Cancer: Plasma transfusions are occasionally necessary for adults and children with various cancers, including leukemia.
• Transplant Surgery: Certain recipients of bone marrow or liver transplants require plasma.
• Hemophilia: Donated plasma can aid a person with this uncommon disorder where their blood lacks sufficient clotting factors.

Donation of Plasma in Blood

In medicine, blood and its constituent parts are invaluable resources. Plasma can be donated in two ways:

Donating Whole Blood: A healthcare provider will place a needle into a vein in your arm to draw blood. Plasma will subsequently be separated in a lab as needed.

Donating Plasma only(plasmapheresis): During a procedure known as plasmapheresis, blood is drawn, the plasma is extracted, and the remaining blood is given back to the donor. While this kind of donation requires a little more time than whole blood because it only involves the donation of plasma, it produces a greater volume of blood plasma, allowing donors to give more often.

Individuals with AB blood type have universal plasma, as it lacks antibodies, making it safe for anyone to receive. In urgent situations, this plasma type can be given without delay, which could be crucial for saving a life. Many people can donate blood plasma, which can help treat infections and conditions and save lives.

Technique of Plasma Separation 

Centrifugation, the process of splitting the extracted blood sample into multiple layers, involves the blood spinning in a centrifuge machine. Denser blood cells fall to the bottom of the yellowish-colored layer, while lighter plasma forms the upper layer. To maintain the functionality of the different clotting factors and immunoglobulins, the collected plasma is frozen within 24 hours; it is thawed before use and has a one-year shelf life. It’s interesting to note that although O-is the ideal universal blood donor, AB blood group plasma is the most favored because it doesn’t contain antibodies, making it safe for everyone to use without worrying about a negative reaction.

Similar to whole blood, plasma is first examined to guarantee recipients’ safety.In accordance with FDA regulations, a series of tests is performed on the collected plasma to detect transmissible diseases, primarily hepatitis A, B, and C, as well as syphilis and HIV. The fractionation process separates individual plasma proteins.

Conditions Affecting Plasma 

Several rare conditions affect plasma in the blood, including:

• Amyloid Light Chain Amyloidosis: A protein disorder in which the antibodies from plasma cells alter their structure and bind together to deposit into organs, impairing the organs’ ability to function.
• Blood Disorders: Small injuries can result in severe bleeding, and hemophilia and von Willebrand disease are conditions where blood doesn’t clot properly.
• Immunodeficiency: A disorder where your body lacks enough antibodies (immunoglobulins) to defend against infection.
• Myeloma: A blood cancer that inhibits the production of new, healthy blood cells by the body and causes abnormal, cancerous plasma cells to form in the bone marrow.

Conclusion

Plasma is the yellow-colored liquid component that constitutes the majority of our blood. It plays an important role in several essential functions, including supporting immunity, promoting blood clotting, and helping regulate blood pressure, volume, and pH levels. Plasma in blood also plays a crucial role in transporting blood cells, nutrients, proteins, waste products, and hormones throughout our body.

Frequently Asked Questions