Tag: blood clotting

Platelets are the cells found in blood which helps in the clotting of the blood. The formation of platelets takes place in bone marrow from large bone marrow cells known as megakaryocytes. These cells after becoming mature enough, undergo the process of cell fragmentation to produce platelet cells. The hormone that help in platelet production is thrombopoietin. 

Platelets are the parts of the blood that help the blood clot. They are smaller than red or white blood cells. If the number of platelets is too low, excessive bleeding can occur. However, if the number of platelets is too high, blood clots can form thrombosis, which may obstruct blood vessels and result in such events as a stroke. 

Megakaryocyte is a large bone marrow cell which are responsible for the production of thrombocytes. Thrombocytes help in normal blood clotting.

(a) Leukopenia is the decrease in the white blood cell count in the cells. 

Prothrombin is a glycoprotein occurring in blood plasma and is an essential component of the blood-clotting mechanism. Prothrombin is transformed into thrombin by a clotting factor known as factor X or prothrombinase; thrombin then acts to transform fibrinogen, also present in plasma, into fibrin, which, in combination with platelets from the blood, forms a clot (coagulation). Under normal circumstances, prothrombin is changed into thrombin only when an injury occurs to the tissues or circulatory system or both; therefore, fibrin and blood clots are not formed except in response to bleeding. Hypoprothrombinemia, a deficiency in prothrombin, is characterized by a tendency to prolonged bleeding. It is usually associated with a lack of vitamin K, which is necessary for the synthesis of prothrombin in the liver cells. 

The relationship between oxygen levels and hemoglobin saturation is indicated by the oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation (saturation) curve at high partial pressures of O2 (above about 40 mm Hg), hemoglobin saturation remains rather high (typically about 75 - 80%). This rather flat section of the oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve is called the 'plateau'. 40 mm Hg is the typical partial pressure of oxygen in the cells of the body. Examination of the oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation curve reveals that, under resting conditions, only about 20 - 25% of hemoglobin molecules give up oxygen in the systemic capillaries. This is significant (in other words, the 'plateau' is significant) because it means that you have a substantial reserve of oxygen. In other words, if you become more active, & your cells need more oxygen, the blood (hemoglobin molecules) has lots of oxygen to provide When you do become more active, partial pressures of oxygen in your (active) cells may drop well below 40 mm Hg.

Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of the blood through the circulatory system.
Thrombocytes are also called 'platelets' and these are the blood cells, whose function is to stop bleeding.
Thrombin is the enzyme that converts fibrinogen to fibrin, and a reaction that leads to the formation of fibrin clot.
Thrombocytopenia is the disorder in which there is an abnormally low amount of platelets.
Thus, the correct answer is option (A).

Thromboplastin is a plasma protein aiding blood coagulation through catalyzing the conversion of prothrombin to thrombin. It is a complex enzyme that is found in brain, lung, and other tissues and especially in blood platelets and that functions in the conversion of prothrombin to thrombin in the clotting of blood—called also thrombokinase.