Oxygen-delivering blood cell and the most common type of blood cell
Red blood cells
Scanning electron micrograph of human red blood cells (c. 6–8 μm in diameter)
Details
Function
Oxygen transport
Identifiers
Acronym(s)
RBC
MeSH
D004912
TH
H2.00.04.1.01001
FMA
62845
Anatomical terms of microanatomy
[edit on Wikidata]
Red blood cells (RBCs), scientific name erythrocytes (from ancient Greek erythros 'red' and kytos 'hollow vessel', with -cyte translated as 'cell' in modern usage), also known as red cells,[1]erythroid cells, and rarely haematids, are the most common type of blood cell and the vertebrate's principal means of delivering oxygen (O2) to the body tissues—via blood flow through the circulatory system.[2] Erythrocytes take up oxygen in the lungs, or in fish the gills, and release it into tissues while squeezing through the body's capillaries.
The cytoplasm of a red blood cell is rich in hemoglobin, an iron-containing biomolecule that can bind oxygen and is responsible for the red color of the cells and the blood. Each human red blood cell contains approximately 270 million hemoglobin molecules.[3] The cell membrane is composed of proteins and lipids, and this structure provides properties essential for physiological cell function such as deformability and stability of the blood cell while traversing the circulatory system and specifically the capillary network.
In humans, mature red blood cells are flexible biconcave disks. They lack a cell nucleus (which is expelled during development) and organelles, to accommodate maximum space for hemoglobin; they can be viewed as sacks of hemoglobin, with a plasma membrane as the sack. Approximately 2.4 million new erythrocytes are produced per second in human adults.[4] The cells develop in the bone marrow and circulate for about 100–120 days in the body before their components are recycled by macrophages. Each circulation takes about 60 seconds (one minute).[5] Approximately 84% of the cells in the human body are the 20–30 trillion red blood cells.[6][7][8][9] Nearly half of the blood's volume (40% to 45%) is red blood cells.
Packed red blood cells are red blood cells that have been donated, processed, and stored in a blood bank for blood transfusion.
^Kumar V, Abbas AK, Fausto N, Mitchell RN (2007). Robbins Basic Pathology (8th ed.). Saunders.
^"Blood Cells". Archived from the original on 23 July 2016.
^D'Alessandro A, Dzieciatkowska M, Nemkov T, Hansen KC (March 2017). "Red blood cell proteomics update: is there more to discover?". Blood Transfusion = Trasfusione del Sangue. 15 (2): 182–187. doi:10.2450/2017.0293-16. PMC 5336341. PMID 28263177.
^Erich Sackmann, Biological Membranes Architecture and Function., Handbook of Biological Physics, (ed. R.Lipowsky and E.Sackmann, vol.1, Elsevier, 1995
^Blom JA (2003). Monitoring of Respiration and Circulation. CRC Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-203-50328-7.
^Hatton IA, Galbraith ED, Merleau NS, Miettinen TP, Smith BM, Shander JA (September 2023). "The human cell count and size distribution". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 120 (39): e2303077120. Bibcode:2023PNAS..12003077H. doi:10.1073/pnas.2303077120. PMC 10523466. PMID 37722043.
^Sender R, Fuchs S, Milo R (August 2016). "Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body". PLOS Biology. 14 (8): e1002533. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002533. PMC 4991899. PMID 27541692.
^Dean L (2005). Blood Groups and Red Cell Antigens. National Center for Biotechnology Information (US).
^Pierigè F, Serafini S, Rossi L, Magnani M (January 2008). "Cell-based drug delivery". Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. 60 (2): 286–295. doi:10.1016/j.addr.2007.08.029. PMID 17997501.
found mainly in the blood. Major types of bloodcells include redbloodcells (erythrocytes), white bloodcells (leukocytes), and platelets (thrombocytes)...
information about the cells in a person's blood. The CBC indicates the counts of white bloodcells, redbloodcells and platelets, the concentration of hemoglobin...
Redbloodcell distribution width (RDW), as well as various types thereof (RDW-CV or RCDW and RDW-SD), is a measure of the range of variation of red blood...
lymphatic system. All white bloodcells have nuclei, which distinguishes them from the other bloodcells, the anucleated redbloodcells (RBCs) and platelets...
(erythrocytes), white bloodcells (leukocytes), and (in mammals) platelets (thrombocytes). The most abundant cells are redbloodcells. These contain hemoglobin...
the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but modern medical practice commonly uses only components of the blood, such as redbloodcells, white...
the surface of redbloodcells (RBCs). These antigens may be proteins, carbohydrates, glycoproteins, or glycolipids, depending on the blood group system...
rupturing (lysis) of redbloodcells (erythrocytes) and the release of their contents (cytoplasm) into surrounding fluid (e.g. blood plasma). Hemolysis...
a different blood group from the mother. Blood compatibility testing includes blood typing, which detects the antigens on redbloodcells that determine...
is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of redbloodcells, a reduction...
(vol%) of redbloodcells (RBCs) in blood, measured as part of a blood test. The measurement depends on the number and size of redbloodcells. It is normally...
is known as sickle cell anemia. It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in redbloodcells. This leads to a rigid...
significance of this occurrence is not felt to be great. The presence of redbloodcells within the cast is always pathological and is strongly indicative of...
sedimentation rate (ESR or sed rate) is the rate at which redbloodcells in anticoagulated whole blood descend in a standardized tube over a period of one...
Washed redbloodcells are redbloodcells which have had most of the plasma, platelets and white bloodcells removed and replaced with saline or another...
corpuscular volume, or mean cell volume (MCV), is a measure of the average volume of a redblood corpuscle (or redbloodcell). The measure is obtained...
In hematology, redcell agglutination or autoagglutination is a phenomenon in which redbloodcells clump together, forming aggregates. It is caused by...
had a blood type that reacted to other blood types in a way never seen before. The serum contained antibodies that attacked all redbloodcells of normal...
circulating cells). Sickle cell disease is a blood disorder wherein there is a single amino acid substitution in the hemoglobin protein of the redbloodcells, which...
peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) is any peripheral bloodcell having a round nucleus. These cells consist of lymphocytes (T cells, B cells, NK cells) and...
oxygen in redbloodcells. Almost all vertebrates contain hemoglobin, with the exception of the fish family Channichthyidae. Hemoglobin in the blood carries...
Blood doping is a form of doping in which the number of redbloodcells in the bloodstream is boosted in order to enhance athletic performance. Because...
to an abnormal form of redbloodcell that has a spiked cell membrane, due to thorny projections. A similar term is spur cells. Often they may be confused...
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