Which fluid is the liquid component of blood?

Which fluid is the liquid component of blood?

• A. Plasma
• B. Interstitial fluid
• C. Lymph
• D. CSF

Answer: (A)

Blood’s liquid component is plasma. Blood consists of formed elements—red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets—suspended in this plasma. Plasma is mostly water and contains dissolved proteins (like albumin, globulins, and fibrinogen), electrolytes, nutrients, hormones, and waste products. It serves as the medium that transports cells and dissolved substances, helps regulate volume and osmotic pressure (in large part thanks to albumin), and provides clotting factors for coagulation. Interstitial fluid surrounds tissues and originates from plasma, but it’s a separate extracellular fluid, not the liquid part of blood. Lymph is formed when some of that interstitial fluid enters lymphatic vessels, and cerebrospinal fluid cushions and nourishes the brain and spinal cord.

Blood’s liquid component is plasma. Blood consists of formed elements—red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets—suspended in this plasma. Plasma is mostly water and contains dissolved proteins (like albumin, globulins, and fibrinogen), electrolytes, nutrients, hormones, and waste products. It serves as the medium that transports cells and dissolved substances, helps regulate volume and osmotic pressure (in large part thanks to albumin), and provides clotting factors for coagulation.

Interstitial fluid surrounds tissues and originates from plasma, but it’s a separate extracellular fluid, not the liquid part of blood. Lymph is formed when some of that interstitial fluid enters lymphatic vessels, and cerebrospinal fluid cushions and nourishes the brain and spinal cord.