This is the story of the red blood cell called Red Bull which first appeared in my book 'Life and Death of A Red Blood Cell in 2013'.
In this retold story of Red Bull I am describing the journey that Red Bull the red blood cell took as he traveled with his companion Humorous Red throughout the human body.
Being a small cell with disc-like concave body he explains how he is able to squeeze through small capillaries and arterioles easily where other bigger blood cells could not.
Red Bull also described why he may take a longer time to complete his journey depending on the blood pressure, resistance of the arterioles and capillaries and the amount of cells present in the blood at a single point of time.
In a story told by one of his fellow Red Blood Cell called Mac who was stuck in the corpus cavernous space of the penis during an erection and was unable to move until ejaculation of the semen and sperms took place.
There was also the time when Red Bull and Humerous Red were attacked by a virus but a white blood cell called Big White saved them.
Another time they nearly were sucked out through a hole in a blood vessel but happily the platelets came to their rescue and sealed the hole in the blood vessel before it leaked blood.
They also described why they like traveling through the heart which is like a roller costal ride for them as they tried to escape the snapping of the valves and the adrenaline rush as they are pushed out of the heart into the lung blood vessels.
In the lungs the heme in their cells were able to capture the bubbles of oxygen which often give them a high because of the freshness of the oxygen.
As they went through the body the oxygen gas is released to the cells.
Some of them needed the oxygen urgently and thanked them profusely.
Others left the red blood cells holding on to their carbon dioxide which are brought back to the lungs and exchanged for more oxygen.
That was their main function in the body being the red blood cells, to provide oxygen to all cells and remove carbon dioxide from these cells and replenish with new oxygen.
Red Bull was born in the bone marrow of the Pelvis while Humerous Red was born 2 days later in the bone marrow of the humerus (which partially explained his name) and also because HR likes to tell jokes.
The birth of the red blood cells occur through a process called erythropoiesis.
Erythropoiesis can be activated by the hormone erythropoietin, which is synthesized by the kidney in response to hypoxia (systemic oxygen deficiency).
Iron, vitamin B12, folic acid, copper, protein are needed for hemoglobin synthesis and normal RBC maturation.
The red blood cells require about seven days to mature.
Just before and after leaving the bone marrow, the developing blood cells are called reticulocytes.
These are immature RBCs that have shed their nuclei following initial differentiation.
After 24 hours in the bloodstream, the reticulocytes become mature functional RBCs.
Red Bull and HR make an amazing 75,000 trips around the body in their 120 days life span.
Because they have no nucleus, they were not able to repair themselves or synthesize new cellular components.
Eventually they wear out.
Most aging RBCs are removed from circulation by specialized white blood cells called macrophages that are present within the liver spleen and lymph nodes.
The macrophages swallow up RBCs.
In front of a tearful HR, Red Bull was swallowed by a macrophage.
"Red Bull will not be charging any more" he quipped before being swallowed.
"They have drunk my Red Bull" Humorous replied "They will feel the power of a Red...