Plasma

What is plasma?

Plasma is the liquid part of your blood. This fluid makes up a little over half of your blood’s total volume. Other blood cells — like red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets — mix in with the plasma, which carries them to every corner of your body.

Plasma is about 92% water. Proteins (antibodies, coagulation factors, albumin and fibrinogen) make up another 7% of it. The other 1% is hormones, vitamins, water, salt, enzymes and other important compounds.

What does plasma do?

Plasma has several jobs that make it vital to your survival:

• Carrying red blood cells to your lungs so they can pick up oxygen and release carbon dioxide
• Maintaining blood pressure so blood vessels stay open, making circulation possible
• Delivering water, hormones, nutrients, electrolytes and proteins to parts of your body that need them
• Helping regulate your body temperature
• Carrying immune cells “on patrol” and delivering them to deal with threats like infections
• Carrying proteins that your body uses for inflammation, to clot blood and to repair damage
• Removing waste products to your liver or kidneys so your body can get rid of them

Think of plasma like a river, and everything it carries like boats. Without enough plasma, it’s like a river with a water level that’s too low. It can’t flow or carry those boats — and their vital cargo —where they need to go.

Where does plasma come from?

Plasma doesn’t really come from a specific place. Instead, it forms when water in your body combines with electrolytes you absorb through your digestive tract. Some of the important proteins that go into plasma come from specific organs or places, though. They include your:

• Bone marrow
• Degenerating, older blood cells
• Liver
• Spleen

Once those proteins combine with the electrolyte-rich liquid, you have plasma.

What does plasma look like?

Plasma is a pale, yellowish or straw-colored liquid when you separate it from red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

Your plasma can be different colors if you have a condition that affects what’s in the plasma. For example, if you have red blood cells breaking down (hemolysis), your plasma might look pinkish. If you have high bilirubin levels and jaundice from a liver condition, your plasma may look greenish or brownish.

What percentage of blood is plasma?

In general, your blood is about 55% plasma. That number can vary a little, depending on your sex or medical conditions you have.

How do you separate plasma from the other components of blood?

You can separate blood components, including plasma, using a tool called a centrifuge. This machine spins a tube full of blood very fast. That creates a gravity-like effect that pulls heavier red blood cells to the bottom of the tube. Atop the red blood cells is a whitish layer of platelets and white blood cells. And above that whitish layer is the plasma.

What proteins are in plasma?

Plasma contains several proteins, including:

• Albumin. This protein helps maintain the balance between the fluid inside your cells and the plasma outside it. That keeps plasma from leaking through to other tissues.
• Fibrinogen. This protein helps your body form clots and then repair tissues, turning those clots into healthy tissues or scar tissue.
• Globulins. These proteins help fight off infections, transporting things in the bloodstream and assisting with blood clotting.
• Other immune and transport proteins. These proteins can help your body defend itself, repair damage or carry nutrients or vital compounds to other places inside your body.

Is plasma tested for any transmittable conditions?

Yes, donated plasma goes through testing for diseases like:

• Hepatitis (all types)
• HIV
• Syphilis

What are diseases or conditions that affect plasma?

Many conditions and diseases affect your plasma. Some examples include:

• Protein malfunction diseases like amyloidosis
• Blood disorders like hemophilia, von Willebrand disease or clotting factor deficiencies
• Immunodeficiency from not having enough immune proteins in your blood
• Myeloma, which affects your bone marrow and disrupts blood formation

What are the possible symptoms of plasma disorders?

Some symptoms that can indicate a plasma condition or related issue include:

• Bone pain
• Bruising or bleeding easily
• Heart palpitations and irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias)
• Getting sick easily because of a weakened immune system

What tests check the health of my body’s plasma?

Several blood tests can check your plasma for signs of a medical condition. Some of these include:

• Blood volume test
• Bone marrow biopsy
• Complete blood count test
• Hematocrit test

What are common treatments for plasma disorders?

The treatments for plasma disorders depend mainly on the disorders themselves. Some examples of treatments include:

• Antibiotics for infections
• Blood transfusions for blood loss or other issues
• Chemotherapy and stem cell transplants for cancers
• Convalescent plasma to give you extra antibodies to help you fight an infection
• Electrolyte solution infusions for dehydration or other conditions
• Plasma infusion to replace lost plasma and boost your blood pressure so you don’t go into shock
• Plasmapheresis or plasma exchange to remove something from your plasma or replace the plasma entirely
• Platelet-rich plasma injections for certain injuries or diseases
• Steroids for inflammatory conditions

How do I donate plasma?

There are two ways that you can donate plasma:

• Donating whole blood. A healthcare provider places a needle in a vein in your arm and withdraws blood. Later, a laboratory will separate plasma as needed.
• Donating plasma only. Like donating whole blood, after undergoing a screening process, a healthcare provider will place a single needle in a vein in your arm to withdraw blood. A centrifuge separates the plasma and then sends the leftover blood cells and platelets back into your body through the same needle.

After removing plasma from your body, the lab freezes your donated plasma within 24 hours. That preserves clotting factors and immunoglobulins. Frozen plasma has a shelf life of one year.

Plasma from donors with an AB blood type is preferred because it doesn’t have antibodies in it. That means people with any blood type can receive it. But anyone can still donate plasma and help others.

What happens to donated plasma?

Donated plasma may see any number of uses. Some examples include:

• Infusion into someone who needs more plasma because of burns, shock, trauma or other medical emergencies
• For scientific research to help develop medications
• For use of the clotting proteins to help control bleeding
• For use of the immune proteins that may assist in cancer treatments, chicken pox, measles, tetanus, immunodeficiencies, kidney disease, hepatitis B, brain disorders and bone marrow transplants