Body Fluid Compartments: Intracellular, Extracellular (Interstitial, Plasma, Transcellular)

Summary

This video, presented by Eric, a registered nurse, discusses the body's fluid compartments and the process of osmosis. The body is composed of 60-70% water, stored in two main compartments: intracellular (inside cells) and extracellular (outside cells). The extracellular fluid includes intravascular (plasma), interstitial, and transcellular fluids. These compartments work together to maintain balance through osmosis, a process where water moves from areas of low solute concentration to high solute concentration across a semi-permeable membrane. Osmolarity, or the concentration of solutes, affects this process, guiding IV fluid therapy in medical treatments.

Takeaways

• 💧 The average adult body consists of 60-70% water, distributed in specific compartments.
• 🏠 There are two main fluid compartments: intracellular (inside cells) and extracellular (outside cells).
• 🔬 The intracellular compartment contains two-thirds of the body's water, making it the largest compartment.
• 🌍 The extracellular compartment holds one-third of the body's water and is divided into intravascular, interstitial, and transcellular fluid compartments.
• 💉 The intravascular fluid, or plasma, is found within blood vessels and is vital for transporting substances like electrolytes and blood cells.
• 🔵 The interstitial fluid surrounds cells and acts as a medium for electrolytes to move between the cells and plasma.
• 🧠 Transcellular fluid is the smallest compartment, found in body cavities like spinal fluid and around the heart and lungs.
• 🔄 Water and electrolytes shift between compartments to maintain balance through processes like osmosis, ensuring homeostasis.
• 🌊 Osmosis is the movement of water from an area of higher water concentration to lower water concentration, influenced by solute concentration.
• ⚖️ Osmolarity refers to the total solute concentration in a fluid, and it determines how osmosis shifts water between compartments in the body.

Q & A

What percentage of the adult body is made up of water?

The average adult body is made up of about 60 to 70 percent water.

What are the two main fluid compartments in the body?

The two main fluid compartments are the intracellular compartment and the extracellular compartment.

What is the intracellular compartment?

The intracellular compartment is the fluid found inside the cells, accounting for two-thirds of the body's water.

What is the extracellular compartment and what does it include?

The extracellular compartment is the fluid outside the cells and includes the intravascular fluid (plasma), interstitial fluid, and transcellular fluid.

What is interstitial fluid and its role?

Interstitial fluid surrounds the outside of cells and acts as a medium for the movement of electrolytes and other substances between the cells and plasma.

What is intravascular fluid and why is it important?

Intravascular fluid, also known as plasma, is the fluid inside blood vessels that contains important substances like electrolytes and blood cells.

What is the smallest fluid compartment and where is it found?

The smallest fluid compartment is the transcellular fluid, found in specific body cavities like spinal fluid, around the heart and lungs, and in joints.

How do body fluid compartments maintain homeostasis?

Body fluid compartments maintain homeostasis by shifting water, electrolytes, and nutrients through processes like osmosis to balance the environment.

What is osmosis and how does it work in the body?

Osmosis is the passive movement of water from a fluid with higher water concentration (low solute concentration) to a fluid with lower water concentration (high solute concentration) through a semi-permeable membrane.

What is osmolarity and how does it affect fluid movement in the body?

Osmolarity is the total solute concentration per liter of solution. Fluids with high osmolarity have more solutes and less water, while fluids with low osmolarity have more water and fewer solutes. Osmolarity influences how osmosis shifts fluid between compartments.

Outlines

00:00

💧 Understanding Body Fluid Compartments and Osmosis

The video begins by explaining the body’s composition, noting that 60-70% of an adult’s body is made of water. This water is stored in two main fluid compartments: intracellular (inside cells) and extracellular (outside cells). The intracellular compartment holds two-thirds of the body's water, while the extracellular compartment contains one-third and is further divided into the intravascular fluid (plasma), interstitial fluid (surrounding cells), and transcellular fluid (in body cavities). The compartments are interconnected, and fluids, electrolytes, and nutrients shift between them to maintain homeostasis. This process is facilitated by osmosis, which allows healthcare professionals to manipulate fluid balances, such as by administering IV fluids to the intravascular compartment.

05:01

⚗️ The Process of Osmosis and Its Role in Fluid Balance

Osmosis is a key mechanism in the body for maintaining fluid balance between compartments. It involves water moving from an area of higher water concentration (or lower solute concentration) to one with lower water concentration (or higher solute concentration) through a semi-permeable membrane. This process does not require energy. The concept is illustrated with a semi-permeable membrane allowing water, but not solutes, to pass. Osmosis is primarily driven by the solute concentration in the fluids, and understanding this process helps explain how water moves between the intracellular and extracellular spaces.

Keywords

💡Intracellular compartment

The intracellular compartment refers to the space inside the cells where two-thirds of the body's water is stored. In the video, it's explained that the majority of our body fluid exists in this compartment, playing a crucial role in maintaining cellular function and homeostasis. This is contrasted with extracellular fluid.

💡Extracellular compartment

The extracellular compartment is the space outside of the cells, where one-third of the body's fluid is stored. It includes fluid like plasma, interstitial fluid, and transcellular fluid. The video emphasizes the importance of this compartment in transporting nutrients, electrolytes, and waste between cells and blood vessels.

💡Intravascular fluid

Intravascular fluid, also referred to as plasma, is the fluid inside blood vessels. The video highlights its significance in transporting important substances such as electrolytes and blood cells. It’s a key component of the extracellular compartment.

💡Interstitial fluid

Interstitial fluid is the fluid that surrounds cells in tissues and acts as a medium for the exchange of nutrients and waste between cells and blood vessels. The video describes how this fluid plays a vital role in facilitating communication between the intracellular and intravascular spaces.

💡Transcellular fluid

Transcellular fluid is the smallest component of the extracellular compartment, located in body cavities like spinal fluid, around the heart, and joints. In the video, it is described as playing a smaller but specialized role in cushioning and protecting organs and tissues.

💡Osmosis

Osmosis is the passive movement of water through a semi-permeable membrane from an area of lower solute concentration to an area of higher solute concentration. The video explains how this process helps maintain balance between the intracellular and extracellular fluid compartments, especially when healthcare professionals administer IV fluids.

💡Semi-permeable membrane

A semi-permeable membrane allows certain molecules, like water, to pass through while blocking others, such as solutes. In the video, the membrane is a key part of the osmosis process, controlling the movement of water between compartments to maintain fluid balance.

💡Solute

A solute is a solid that is dissolved in a liquid. In the context of the video, examples of solutes include sodium and chloride, which, when dissolved in fluids, influence how water moves between compartments during osmosis.

💡Osmolarity

Osmolarity refers to the concentration of solutes in a given volume of solution. The video explains that the osmolarity of a fluid determines how osmosis affects the movement of water between the intracellular and extracellular spaces. Fluids with higher osmolarity have more solutes and less water, which can influence treatment strategies in healthcare.

💡Electrolytes

Electrolytes are solutes like sodium and chloride that dissolve in water and play a critical role in maintaining fluid balance and conducting electrical signals in the body. The video highlights how electrolytes are transported between the intracellular and extracellular compartments to ensure proper body function.

Highlights

The average adult body is made up of about 60-70% water, which is stored in two main fluid compartments: intracellular and extracellular.

The intracellular compartment holds fluid within the cells and accounts for two-thirds of the body’s water.

The extracellular compartment stores fluid outside the cells, making up one-third of the body’s water, and includes the interstitial and intravascular fluids.

The interstitial fluid surrounds cells and acts as a medium for electrolytes and substances to move between cells and plasma.

Intravascular fluid, also known as plasma, contains important substances such as electrolytes and blood cells.

Transcellular fluid is the smallest fluid compartment, found in body cavities such as the spinal fluid and fluid around the heart and lungs.

Body fluid compartments are interconnected, working together to maintain homeostasis by shifting water and electrolytes as needed.

Osmosis is a key process that moves water across a semi-permeable membrane from a higher water concentration to a lower concentration, without requiring energy.

Osmosis is influenced by solute concentration, moving water from areas of low solute concentration to areas with higher solute concentration.

Solutes are solids dissolved in liquids, like sodium and chloride, which form electrolytes when dissolved in fluids.

Osmolarity refers to the total solute concentration per liter of solution, determining how osmosis will work to shift fluids in the body.

Fluids with high osmolarity have more solutes and less water, while fluids with low osmolarity have fewer solutes and more water.

Healthcare providers use IV fluids with different osmolarities to treat patients by shifting fluids between compartments.

By administering fluids with specific osmolarities, healthcare professionals can correct fluid imbalances in the body.

Understanding the relationship between osmolarity and fluid compartments helps in effectively managing conditions like dehydration or electrolyte imbalances.

Transcripts

hey everyone it's Eric registered nurse

aryan.com and in this video I'm going to

be talking about body fluid compartments

and osmosis so let's get started now the

average adult body is made up of about

60 to 70 percent of water so that is a

lot of fluid within our body and this

fluid has to be stored somewhere and

there are two main compartments that

stores this fluid that I want you to

remember the first compartment is known

as the intracellular compartment and

this is the fluid that's found within

the cell and intra means within so

remember this is a fluid inside of our

cell as you can see here then we have

the extracellular compartment and this

is the fluid found outside of that cell

an extra means Beyond or outside so

we're talking about that fluid that is

surrounding the cell and it is made up

of the intravascular fluid which you can

see here this is also referred to as the

plasma then we have the interstitial

fluid which you can see here in blue and

it's just hanging out around our cells

and then we have the trans cellular

fluid so now let's take a closer look at

these body fluid compartments with the

first being the intracellular space so

again this was the fluid found inside of

the cell and this space actually

accounts for two-thirds of our body

water so most of our fluid is inside of

our cells and then there's the

extracellular space which again is that

fluid outside of the cell and it

accounts for one third of our body water

and it includes the fluid compartments

such as the interstitial fluid

compartment and the interstitial fluid

compartment is the fluid that surrounds

the outside of our cells and this fluid

plays a very vital role in helping be a

medium for electrolytes and other

substances to move to and from the cell

to the plasma with the assistance of the

capillaries and the intravascular fluid

compartment which again is known as the

plasma is the fluid found inside the

blood vessels which contain so many

important substances like electrolytes

blood cells and so forth and then lastly

we have the trans cellular fluid

compartment and this is actually the

smallest compartment and this is the

fluid that is found within certain body

cavities like the spinal fluid the fluid

that surrounds our heart and lungs and

the joints now it's important to note

that these compartments are really all

interconnected with their own amount of

water and electrolytes and they will

work together to help maintain a

homeostatic environment in our body and

how they do this is that they will shift

water electrolytes and other nutrients

around so we can keep that balanced

environment and they do this shifting

through various processes in the body

with one of those processes being

osmosis therefore in healthcare we can

administer IV fluids let's say to this

intravascular compartment to help expand

it if we need to or shift fluids around

these compartments via this process of

Osmosis to help us correct fluid

imbalances or other problems that can

occur within the intracellular and

extracellular spaces so to help us

understand how IV fluids do this let's

talk about osmosis so osmosis is a

process where water is going to move

from a fluid of a higher water

concentration to a fluid of a lower

concentration in other words water is

going to move from a fluid that has a

low solute concentration to a fluid that

has a higher solute concentration and it

does this passively it doesn't need any

energy or anything from the cell it

actually does this on its own and it

does it through a semi-permeable

membrane which is only permeable to

water molecules so let's illustrate this

process by looking at this drawing here

we have our semi-permeable membrane

which is only permeable to water and on

one side of the membrane we have a lot

of water molecules but we don't have a

lot of solutes and on the other side of

the membrane brain we have not a lot of

water molecules but a lot of solutes so

according to osmosis what's going to

happen is that water is going to move

from a higher concentration of water to

a lower concentration of water or you

can look at it this way water is going

to move from the place where there's not

a lot of solutes to a place that there

are a lot of solutes now the big

takeaway I want you to get from osmosis

is that this process is highly

influenced by a fluid solute

concentration and depending on how

concentrated that fluid is of the

solutes will determine how osmosis is

going to affect how water is going to

shift from this extracellular space to

the intracellular space or vice versa so

what is a solute a solute is a solid

that has been dissolved in a liquid and

there's many different substances out

there that can become a solute in a

liquid solution with one being like

sodium and chloride so we can take

sodium and chloride in their solid form

put them in a liquid whenever we do that

once they dissolve they become an

electrolyte but there's still a solute

in that fluid that we have now we can

take that and we can administer it to

the patient in their intervascular

system now depending on how much sodium

and chloride we actually put in that

fluid will determine how the process of

osmosis is going to be affected in this

extracellular and intracellular

compartment so that leads me to

osmolarity what is osmolarity osmolarity

is the amount of solutes within a

specific fluid volume so in other words

it's the total solute concentration per

liter of solution so depending on that

IV fluids osmolarity will depend on how

well osmosis is going to work within the

body to shift fluid around these

compartments so we can term fluids as

having a High osmolarity or a low

osmolarity so whenever a fluid has a

high osmolarity we're saying it has a

lot of solutes in that fluid whenever

something has a lot of solutes in it it

has less water on the flip side if a

fluid has a low osmolarity it has a low

amount of solutes in it meaning it's

going to have more water in it and in

healthcare we can use osmolarity to our

benefit to help treat patients who are

sick and need fluids replaced based on

what compartment we need to treat and

shift fluids around we do this by

administering various types of fluids

that have different osmolarities or

solute concentrations which will move

water in or out of these compartments

okay so that wraps up this video and if

you'd like to watch more videos in this

series you can access the link in the

YouTube description below