red blood cell (redirected from red blood cell count)

red blood cell

n. Abbr. RBC

A cell in the blood of vertebrates that transports oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from the tissues. In mammals, the red blood cell is disk-shaped and biconcave, contains hemoglobin, and lacks a nucleus. Also called erythrocyte, red cell, red corpuscle.

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red blood cell, corpuscle

n

(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Biochemistry) another name for erythrocyte

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red blood cell

Any of the oval or disc-shaped cells that circulate in the blood of vertebrate animals, contain hemoglobin, and give blood its red color. The hemoglobin in red blood cells binds to oxygen for transport and delivery to body tissues, and it transports carbon dioxide, excreted as a metabolic waste product, out of the tissues. The red blood cells of mammals have no nucleus, while those of other vertebrates do contain nuclei. Red blood cells are formed in the bone marrow. Also called erythrocyte.

A Closer Look While 60 percent of the US population is eligible to donate blood, only about 5 percent does. There is no substitute for human blood, which is used for numerous medical situations, including surgery for trauma, cancer treatment, organ transplants, burns, open heart surgeries, anemia, clotting disorders, and treating premature babies. The average red blood cell transfusion is 3.4 pints. Blood, which is made in the bone marrow, has four main componentsred cells, platelets, plasma, and white cells. Red blood cells, or erythrocytes, transport oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. These disk-shaped cells contain hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein that picks up oxygen molecules as the blood exchanges gases in the lungs. The red blood cells, which can live about 120 days in the circulatory system, deliver oxygen to the far reaches of the body, where it is released for use by other cells, such as those of the brain and muscles. Red blood cells also pick up carbon dioxide and return it to the lungs to be exhaled. All animals have some form of oxygen distribution system, but only vertebrates use red blood cells. In some invertebrates, such as the earthworm, oxygen is transported using hemoglobin that is freely dissolved in the blood. Other invertebrates don't use hemoglobin at all. The horseshoe crab, for instance, uses copper instead of iron, making its blood blue instead of red.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

red blood cell - a mature blood cell that contains hemoglobin to carry oxygen to the bodily tissues; a biconcave disc that has no nucleus erythrocyte, RBC blood cell, blood corpuscle, corpuscle - either of two types of cells (erythrocytes and leukocytes) and sometimes including platelets macrocyte, megalocyte - abnormally large red blood cell (associated with pernicious anemia) megaloblast - abnormally large red blood cell present in pernicious anemia and folic acid deficiency acanthocyte - an abnormal red blood cell that has thorny projections of protoplasm microcyte - an abnormally small red blood cell (less than 5 microns in diameter) reticulocyte - an immature red blood cell containing a network of filaments or granules sickle cell - an abnormal red blood cell that has a crescent shape and an abnormal form of hemoglobin siderocyte - an abnormal red blood cell containing granules of iron not bound in hemoglobin spherocyte - an abnormal spherical red blood cell target cell - an abnormal red blood cell with the appearance of a dark ring surrounding a dark center; associated with anemia haemoglobin, Hb, hemoglobin - a hemoprotein composed of globin and heme that gives red blood cells their characteristic color; function primarily to transport oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues; "fish have simpler hemoglobin than mammals"