PHGY 209 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Intrinsic Factor, Macrocytic Anemia, Microcytic Anemia

• School: McGill University
• Department: Physiology
• Course: PHGY 209
• Professor: Alvin Shrier

Document Summary

Erythropoeitin does not affect the pluripotent stem cell. Increase release of erythropoietin which is why men have more rbcs. Estrogen has the opposite effect of testosterone which is why females have less rbcs. Everyday, we produce 1% of our rbcs. Each rbc travels 3 miles during life time. Iron is necessary for rbc production, iron is released into the plasma. Iron can be toxic in the bloodstream, so it"s picked up by transferrin, which binds any free iron to take it to the liver, where it is stored in the ferritin storage. If necessary, iron can be picked up from the ferritin storage to the bone marrow to produce more rbcs. Heme is broken down into bilirubin, which gives plasma its yellow color (1mg of bilirubin / dl of plasma). Lost in the urine and gives it its yellow color: continues into the digestive tract and large intestine to become waste product feces.