Science of Bone Marrow
What is Bone Marrow?
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Bone marrow is the tissue comprising the center of large bones.
It is the place where new blood cells are produced.
Bone marrow contains two types of stem cells: hemopoietic (which can produce
blood cells) and stromal (which can produce fat, cartilage and bone).
There are two types of bone marrow: red marrow (also known as myeloid tissue)
and yellow marrow.
Red blood cells, platelets and most white blood cells arise in red marrow; some
white blood cells develop in yellow marrow.
The color of yellow marrow is due to the much higher number of fat cells.
Both types of bone marrow contain numerous blood vessels and capillaries. At
birth, all bone marrow is red.
With age, more and more of it is converted to the yellow type.
Adults have on average about 2.6kg (5.7lbs) of bone marrow, with about half of it
being red.
Red marrow is found mainly in the flat bones such as hip bone, breast bone, skull,
ribs, vertebrae and shoulder blades, and in the cancellous ("spongy") material at
the proximal ends of the long bones femur and humerus.
Pink Marrow is found in the hollow interior of the middle portion of long bones.
There are several serious diseases involving bone marrow.
In cases of severe blood loss, the body can convert yellow marrow back to red
marrow in order to increase blood cell production
What uses does bone marrow have?
• To obtain stem cells for the repair of organs or
tissues
• Helps in the treatment of leukemia
• Helps with auto immune disease and
cardiovascular disease
What makes bone marrow
dysfunctional?
• Bone marrow transplants can be dysfunctional
because an organ or tissue is not accepted by
the body of the transplant recipient.
• The body does not receive it because the
immune system is designed to detect foreign
material and attempt to destroy it as it does
with bacteria and viruses.
• Three types of rejection are: Hyperacute
rejection, Acute rejection and Chronic
rejection.
Why are bone marrow transplants
necessary?
Reason for BMT
To replace non-functioning infected bone
marrow with a healthy bone marrow
Common Diseases:
Leukemia- produces immature blood cells
Breast Cancer
Ovarian Cancer
Aplastic Anemia- produces low blood cell
count
Hodgekin’s Disease
Non-Hodgekin’s Disease (mostly infects
children)
Brain Tumors
Immune Deficiency Diseases
What is the difference between yellow
and red bone marrow?
Red bone marrow
Yellow bone marrow
Bone marrow is red at birth
About half of red bone marrow is
converted to yellow as he ages to act as
reserve in case of emergencies
Can be found in flat bones such as the hip Yellow bone marrow, on the other hand,
bone, breast bone, skull, ribs, and shoulder can be found in the hollow interior of long
blades
bones such as the legs and arms
Helps the body in its everyday functions
Helps the body survive extreme cases of
hunger and blood loss.
Produces all the red blood cells, white
blood cells, and platelets that the body is
using
Produces fat cells