Sean Munroe3/25/15

Period 8Finally, the Spleen Gets Some Respect

Article Questions1. The spleen has a so-called non capillary circulatory system. This is because, in contrast to other

organs, as blood flows into the spleen it is dumped into puddle like sinusoids, and to get back out it must squeeze between cells. The dumping and squeezing helps to filter out blood-borne parasites, aging blood cells to brittle for compression, and the oxidized pellets in which RBC’s are often pocketed named BB’s.

2. The spleen has been called a recycling center. This is because iron and other components are plucked out of the cells and used to stock new hemoglobin cages.

3. After a heart attack, monocytes are very important in the removing of dead muscle, rebuilding stable scar tissue, and stimulation of a new generation of blood vessels. They really are the “major repair workers after a heart attack.” The mass amount of monocytes produced puzzled researchers and scientists because they could not find where they were all coming from. After many hypothesi, the scientists found out that the spleen was a major “hangout” place for the monocytes. The number of monocytes in the spleen is 10 times higher than that of the blood stream explained Doctor Nahrendorf. The scientists reckoned that the monocytes were “born” in the bone marrow like all other blood cells, and then at some point migrated to the spleen because of an unknown attraction/signal/cue.