Plasma is the yellowish or gold liquid in your blood.   The red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelet cells float in the plasma.  Plasma contains nutrients, hormones, and proteins as well as antibodies which are important for your immune system, partly because antibodies fight infections and disease.

Plasma, like red blood cells and platelet cells and whole blood, can be collected and then donated to people who need plasma products that their body does not produce. 

There are two types of donated plasma: recovered plasma and source plasma.   Recovered plasma is taken from a pint of whole blood that someone has donated.  Source plasma is collected through a process called plasmapheresis.  (“Plasmapheresis” comes from the Greek word “apheresis” which means “to take away”)  When a donor undergoes plasmapheresis, the blood is removed via the intravenous needle and tube but the plasma is then separated from the blood and collected.  The cellular parts of the blood (the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelet cells) go back into the donor. 

How is plasma used?
Once the plasma is collected, it is made into a specific plasma product.  Plasma products include clotting factors, albumin, alpha-1 antitrypsin protein, and immune globulin. 

Clotting factors are given to people with diseases that cause excessive bleeding, diseases such as hemophilia and von Willebrand disease.  Albumin is a protein found in human blood plasma and can help treat severe burns, shock, and other trauma.  Alpha-1 antitrypsin protein is given to people with Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic lung disease also known as genetic COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  Immune globulin has been used for many years to prevent and to treat of a variety of infectious and inflammatory diseases, such as autoimmune disorders, primary immunodeficiencies, and neuropathies.