Plasma Vs Serum

Plasma is the liquid portion of whole blood that carries red and white blood cells, nutrients, and clotting factors. It also contains water, proteins, and lipids.

When collecting biological serum, plasma, or whole blood for laboratory analysis, the samples are usually collected in partially evacuated tubes with color-coded polymer stoppers.

Water

Blood is a liquid connective tissue that transports essential nutrients, oxygen, metabolic wastes, and other substances. It also helps regulate body temperature by absorbing and releasing heat.

Red and white blood cells float in plasma, which is 90% water and makes up around 55% of the total volume of the body’s fluids. It carries hormones, proteins, and antibodies to different parts of the body.

Serum is made by removing clotting factors and blood cells from plasma, using centrifugation. Serum can then be used for a variety of medical and research purposes.

Whole blood behaves as a non-Newtonian fluid because it changes its viscosity as a function of shear rate (blood flow velocity). As it flows quickly, red blood cells stick together and become thicker. This non-Newtonian behavior of blood is known as shear-thinning, and it can affect testing methods such as plasma viscosity.

Proteins

Proteins in the blood have an important role in maintaining osmotic pressure and transporting hormones and fatty acids. They include antibodies, clotting factors, and proteins albumin and fibrinogen.

Proteins are small organic molecules that consist of an alpha (central) carbon atom linked to amino groups, a carboxyl group, and a hydrogen atom. They form long chains of amino acids with peptide bonds.

Proteins in plasma can be separated by different techniques, such as size exclusion, ion exchange, and lectin binding. They are then analyzed by mass spectrometry to identify their unique molecular weights and to determine whether they are related to non-redundant protein databases. This approach has been used to separate protein biomarkers in serum for a number of years, and it continues to be a valuable diagnostic tool.

Clotting Factors

Plasma is a liquid part of blood that contains water, proteins, hormones, electrolytes, and other important nutrients. It also contains clotting factors that help to prevent bleeding from the blood vessels when they are damaged or weakened.

Serum is a liquid part of blood that does not contain clotting factors. It is a clear and yellow liquid that forms more than half of the total volume of the blood.

In blood clotting, blood cells become stranded and encased in a protein called fibrinogen. When these strands come in contact with a sticky surface, they form threadlike molecules called fibrin, which trap platelets and trap in the clot that forms to stop bleeding.

The clotting process is a complex sequence of reactions that are usually initiated by a specialized protein known as tissue factor or thromboplastin. The tissue factor binds to a specific enzyme, called factor VIIa, and activates it. Factor Xa then converts prothrombin to thrombin and converts fibrinogen to fibrin, which is the primary step in forming a clot.

Antibodies

Antibodies are proteins that circulate in the blood and are used by the immune system to fight infections and diseases. They bind to the surface of pathogens and prevent them from entering the body.

They also play a role in clotting, by blocking blood clotting factors, and regulating the pH levels of the blood. The blood contains antibodies in both plasma vs serum, which are the liquid portions of the blood.

Antibodies are made from a flexible Y-shaped protein (a chain of amino acids linked by peptide bonds) with two identical antigen-binding sites on each arm. They are bivalent, which means that they can bind to a variety of different antigens. They can also cross-link their antigen-binding sites, which increases their efficiency.