Plasma and serum are both components of blood, but they have some key differences:
- Definition: Plasma is the liquid component of blood that remains after cells have been removed, while serum is the liquid component of blood that remains after the blood has clotted and the clotting factors have been removed.
- Composition: Plasma contains water, electrolytes, proteins (including clotting factors), hormones, and waste products. Serum, on the other hand, does not contain clotting factors because they have been removed during the clotting process.
- Clotting: Plasma contains clotting factors that help blood to clot, while serum does not. This means that serum is often used in diagnostic tests that require a sample of blood that has not been altered by clotting.
- Medical applications: Plasma is used in transfusions to replace blood volume and provide clotting factors to patients with bleeding disorders. Serum is used in diagnostic tests to detect the presence of antibodies or other substances in the blood.
