Question

• Give common causes of anemia. How could you determine whether a patient’s anemia was due to an iron deficiency based on a Complete Blood Count? • Where are all of the formed elements in blood made? • What is erythropoietin? Where is it made & what stimulates its synthesis?

Answer 1

The common causes of anemia include: Impaired red blood cell (RBC) production due to disturbance in proliferation and differentiation of stem cells, Increased destruction of RBC either due to genetic reason or extrinsic reasons (antibody mediated or trauma associated), Blood loss due to surgery, trauma causing acute blood loss leading to iron loss (iron deficiency anemia). Poor dietery intake or problem with absorption of food may result in iron deficiency anemia.

Complete blood count in iron deficiency anemia: CBC detrmines the mean corpuscular volume (MCV). MCV is the average size of red blood cells.  In iron-deficiency anemia, red blood cells usually are smaller than normal.

Formed elements in blood: The formed elements in blood are erythrocytes (red blood cells), leukocytes (white bloodcells), and platelets. The formation of these elemnts is known as hemopoiesis. Before birth, Hemopoiesis occurs mainly in liver and spleen. some cells develop in the thymus, lymph nodes, and red bone marrow. After birth, hemopoiesis is limited to red bone marroow but some white blood cells are formed in lymphoid tissue.

Erythropoietin: Erythropoietin (EPO) is a glycoprotein cytokine which is also known as hematopoietin or hemopoietin.  It is secreted by the kidney. Cellular hypoxia stimulates the synthesis of erythropoietin. it stimulates red blood cell production (erythropoiesis) in the bone marrow.