Question

Describe the red blood cell maturation process?

Answer 1

The Red blood cells or erythrocytes are formed by the process called Erythropoiesis which involves the development of erythropoietic stem cell into mature erythrocytes or red blood cell. So the process of RBC maturation takes about 7 days to complete. The erythrocytes are constantly produced by the body in the bone marrow region of the bones at the rate of about 2 million cells per second in a healthy adult body.the erythrocytes are formed after differentiation from erythrotropietic bone marrow cells which are essentially stem cells.

The erythropoiesis process is initiated by the stimulus provided by the hormone erythropoietin which is synthesized or made from the kidney under conditions where oxygen is scarce and more red blood cells are required to transport the oxygen to the body and organs. So in RBC maturation the haematoblast stem cell undergoes multiple series of differentiation to produce a reticulocyte. This reticuocyte or immature RBC when absorbs Vitamin B12, folic acid and Iron which are essential for haemoglobin synthesis. Just before leaving he bone marrow the reticulocytes shed their nuclei and leads to formation of mature red blood cells. This mature red blood cells in 24 hours circulate into entire body and transport essential oxygen and ensure healthy bodily functioning.

After maturation process is completed the RBCs are in circulation n the body for about 100 to 120 days before they undergo degradation and are removed from body/ system