Physioex Lab 1

PhysioEx Lab 1

Blood Analysis: Hematocrit, Hemoglobin Determination, and blood typing.

This laboratory exercise is designed to introduce you to some blood analysis techniques before you do an actual experiment next week. In this exercise you will perform the Hematocrit determination (activity 1), Hemoglobin determination (activity 3), and lastly, the blood typing experiments (activity 4). Complete the review sheets, pertinent to these activities, too.

You don’t turn these exercises in until the lab exam. We will just discuss them in lab as we go.

Activity One

Do hematocrit determination (we will also do this physically in lab next week). Load blood into hematocrit tube. Spin tube down; RBCs are heavy, will spin to bottom of the tube. Take a ruler, measure the height of all of the blood and plasma in the tube (say 100mm) and height of red part is 45mm, what is hematocrit? Hct is 45% (that is normal), males higher than females, but just figure 45% is normal.

Who had a normal hematocrit?

Female Boston normal

Male Boston normal

Who had a high hematocrit? This is called polycythemia (excess RBCs)

Female and male in Denver are high (they live at higher elevation, less O2 pushed onto RBC, kidney detects the low O2 levels, releases erythropoietin (EPO), makes more RBCs, increases Hct. This condition is called secondary polycythemia.

A Sherpa living on Mt Everest will also have a high Hct.

What happens to athletes doping on Erythropoietin (EPO), how does all that blood get through vessels? Answer: they get an overworked heart, could have heart attack.

Who had a low hematocrit? This is called anemia

Male with aplastic anemia, don’t make RBCs, low Hct. Also effects WBCs

Iron deficiency anemia is like a teddy bear without enough stuffing; it will sag. The RBC will have abnormal shape, will be removed from the circulation by macrophages, causes a low Hct.

Other Hgb abnormalities (like sickle cell anemia) are detected and those RBCs are also...