Liquid removed from whole anti-coagulated blood is called?

Liquid removed from whole anti-coagulated blood is called?

• A. Serum
• B. Buffy coat
• C. Plasma
• D. Platelets

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is distinguishing the liquid component you get from blood that has been treated to prevent clotting. When blood is drawn into an anticoagulant, it doesn’t clot, so after separation the liquid portion you obtain is plasma. Plasma contains the clotting factors still present in the blood, like fibrinogen. If the blood had been allowed to clot, the liquid on top after centrifugation would be serum, which lacks those clotting factors because they’ve been used up in the clot. The buffy coat, a thin middle layer, consists of white blood cells and platelets, and platelets are cellular fragments rather than the liquid part. So the liquid portion from anticoagulated blood is plasma.

The main idea here is distinguishing the liquid component you get from blood that has been treated to prevent clotting. When blood is drawn into an anticoagulant, it doesn’t clot, so after separation the liquid portion you obtain is plasma. Plasma contains the clotting factors still present in the blood, like fibrinogen. If the blood had been allowed to clot, the liquid on top after centrifugation would be serum, which lacks those clotting factors because they’ve been used up in the clot. The buffy coat, a thin middle layer, consists of white blood cells and platelets, and platelets are cellular fragments rather than the liquid part. So the liquid portion from anticoagulated blood is plasma.