Blood Components :

Plasma :

Plasma click this icon to hear the preceding term pronounced is the relatively clear, yellow tinted water (92+%), sugar, fat, protein and salt solution which carries the red cells, white cells, and platelets. Normally, 55% of our blood's volume is made up of plasma. As the heart pumps blood to cells throughout the body, plasma brings nourishment to them and removes the waste products of metabolism. Plasma also contains blood clotting factors, sugars, lipids, vitamins, minerals, hormones, enzymes, antibodies, and other proteins. It is likely that plasma contains some of every protein produced by the body--approximately 500 have been identified in human plasma so far.

Agglutination :

Sometimes when the blood of two people is mixed together, it clumps or forms visible islands in the liquid plasma--the red cells become attached to one another. This is agglutination :

When different types of blood are mixed within the body, the reaction can be a bursting of the red cells as well as agglutination. Different types of blood are recognized on the molecular level and sometimes rejected by being destroyed and ultimately filtered out by the kidneys in order to expel them from the body along with urine. In the case of a transfusion mistake, there can be so much of the wrong type of blood in the system that it can result in kidney failure and death. This is due to the fact that when the kidneys try to filter the blood, they essentially become clogged as they are overwhelmed and cease being effective filters. Additionally, there is a rapid depletion of blood clotting factors which causes bleeding from every body orifice. In the United States, about 1 in 12,000 units of whole blood transfused is given to the wrong person. Depending on the blood types of the donor and the recipient, this can result in death or no problems at all.

Within blood, there are substances called antibodies click this icon to hear the preceding term pronounced which distinguish particular antigens from others, causing bursting or agglutination of the red cells when alien antigens are found. The antibodies bind to the antigens. In the case of agglutination, the antibodies "glue" together the antigens from different red cells thereby sticking the red cells together .