Which of the following is the fluid part of the blood ?
Plasma
Plasma is the fluid part of the blood — option 2. The other three options are all cells or cell fragments suspended in it.
| Component | What it is | Share of blood | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plasma | Straw-coloured liquid, about 90 per cent water | About 55 per cent | Carries cells, nutrients, hormones, wastes, proteins and salts |
| Red cells (RBC) | Biconcave discs without a nucleus, packed with haemoglobin | Most of the remaining 45 per cent | Carry oxygen from lungs to tissues |
| White cells (WBC) | Nucleated cells of several kinds | Less than 1 per cent | Defence against infection |
| Platelets | Cell fragments from megakaryocytes | Less than 1 per cent | Clotting of blood |
What plasma contains. Roughly 90 to 92 per cent of it is water. The remainder is chiefly the plasma proteins — albumin, which maintains the osmotic pressure that keeps water inside the vessels; globulins, which include the antibodies; and fibrinogen, which is converted into fibrin during clotting. Dissolved in it are glucose, amino acids, hormones, sodium, potassium, calcium and bicarbonate ions, urea and dissolved gases.
Plasma against serum — a distinction worth knowing. If blood is allowed to clot and the clot is removed, the fluid left is serum: it is plasma minus the clotting factors, principally fibrinogen. Plasma is obtained instead by adding an anticoagulant and spinning the blood down, so that the cells settle and the whole fluid part is recovered.
Why it matters clinically. Plasma is transfused to burn victims and to patients with clotting disorders, and it is the source of albumin, immunoglobulins and clotting-factor concentrates for haemophilia.
Hence, the answer is Plasma.
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