The red pulp of the spleen is composed of connective tissue known as the cords of Billroth and many splenic sinuses that are engorged with blood, giving it a red color. Its primary function is to filter the blood of antigens, microorganisms, and defective or worn-out red blood cells.
The spleen is made of red pulp and white pulp, separated by the marginal zone; 76-79% of a normal spleen is red pulp. Unlike white pulp, which mainly contains lymphocytes such as T cells, red pulp is made up of several different types of blood cells, including platelets, granulocytes, red blood cells, and plasma.
Read more about Red Pulp: Sinusoids, Cells Found in Red Pulp, Diseases
Famous quotes containing the words red and/or pulp:
“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
—Bible: Hebrew Isaiah, 1:18.
“For men tied fast to the absolute, bled of their differences, drained of their dreams by authoritarian leeches until nothing but pulp is left, become a massive, sick Thing whose sheer weight is used ruthlessly by ambitious men. Here is the real enemy of the people: our own selves dehumanized into “the masses.” And where is the David who can slay this giant?”
—Lillian Smith (1897–1966)