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Body Fluid Compartments
Prepared by:
Fahad Asim
Pharm.D. (PU), R.Ph. (Pb.),
M.Phil. (Pharmacology)
Daily Intake of Water
Total Body Fluid
• The total body fluid is distributed mainly between
two compartments: the extracellular fluid and the
intracellular fluid.
• The extracellular fluid is divided into the interstitial

fluid and the blood plasma.
• There is another small compartment of fluid that is

referred to as transcellular fluid. This compartment
includes fluid in the synovial, peritoneal, pericardial,
and intraocular spaces, as well as the cerebrospinal
fluid.
Intracellular Fluid Compartment
• About 28 of the 42 liters of fluid in the body are
inside the 75 trillion cells and are collectively called
the intracellular fluid.
• Thus, the intracellular fluid constitutes about 40
percent of the total body weight in an “average”
person.
• The fluid of each cell contains its individual mixture
of different constituents, but the concentrations of
these substances are similar from one cell to
another.
Extracellular Fluid Compartment
• All the fluids outside the cells are collectively called
the extracellular fluid.
• Together these fluids account for about 20 percent
of the body weight, or about 14 liters in a normal 70-
kilogram adult.
• The two largest compartments of the extracellular
fluid are the interstitial fluid, which makes up more
than three fourths of the extracellular fluid, and the
plasma, which makes up almost one fourth of the
extracellular fluid, or about 3 liters.
• The plasma is the non-cellular part of the blood; it
exchanges substances continuously with the
interstitial fluid through the pores of the capillary
membranes.
• These pores are highly permeable to almost all
solutes in the extracellular fluid except the proteins.
• Therefore, the extracellular fluids are constantly
mixing, so that the plasma and interstitial fluids have
about the same composition except for proteins,
which have a higher concentration in the plasma.
Blood Volume:
•Blood contains both extracellular fluid (the fluid in
plasma) and intracellular fluid (the fluid in the red
blood cells).
•However, blood is considered to be a separate fluid
compartment because it is contained in a chamber of
its own, the circulatory system.
•The blood volume is especially important in the
control of cardiovascular dynamics.
• The average blood volume of adults is about 7
percent of body weight, or about 5 liters.
• About 60 percent of the blood is plasma and 40
percent is red blood cells, but these percentages can
vary considerably in different people, depending on
gender, weight, and other factors.
Hematocrit (Packed Red Cell Volume):
•The hematocrit is the fraction of the blood composed
of red blood cells, as determined by centrifuging blood
in a “hematocrit tube” until the cells become tightly
packed in the bottom of the tube.
•It is impossible to completely pack the red cells
together; therefore, about 3 to 4 percent of the plasma
remains entrapped among the cells, and the true
hematocrit is only about 96 per cent of the measured
hematocrit.
• In men, the measured hematocrit is normally about
0.40, and in women, it is about 0.36. In severe
anemia, the hematocrit may fall as low as 0.10, a
value that is barely sufficient to sustain life.
• Conversely, there are some conditions in which there
is excessive production of red blood cells, resulting in
polycythemia.
• In these conditions, the hematocrit can rise to 0.65.
Ionic Composition of Plasma and
Interstitial Fluid Is Similar
• Because the plasma and interstitial fluid are
separated only by highly permeable capillary
membranes, their ionic composition is similar.
• The most important difference between these two
compartments is the higher concentration of protein
in the plasma;
• because the capillaries have a low permeability to
the plasma proteins, only small amounts of proteins
are leaked into the interstitial spaces in most tissues.
• Because of the Donnan effect, the concentration of
positively charged ions (cations) is slightly greater
(about 2 percent) in the plasma than in the
interstitial fluid.
• The plasma proteins have a net negative charge and,
therefore, tend to bind cations, such as sodium and
potassium ions, thus holding extra amounts of these
cations in the plasma along with the plasma proteins.
• Conversely, negatively charged ions (anions) tend to
have a slightly higher concentration in the interstitial
fluid compared with the plasma, because the
negative charges of the plasma proteins repel the
negatively charged anions.
Osmosis
• Osmosis is defined as “the net diffusion of
water across a selectively permeable
membrane from a region of high water
concentration to one that has a lower water
concentration.”
• The total number of particles in a solution is
measured in osmoles.
• One osmole (osm) is equal to 1 mole (mol) (6.02 *
1023) of solute particles.
• Therefore, a solution containing 1 mole of glucose in
each liter has a concentration of 1 osm/L.
• If a molecule dissociates into two ions (giving two
particles), such as sodium chloride ionizing to give
chloride and sodium ions, then a solution containing
1 mol/L will have an osmolar concentration of 2
osm/L.
Osmolality and Osmolarity
• The osmolal concentration of a solution is called osmolality
when the concentration is expressed as osmoles per kilogram
of water; it is called osmolarity when it is expressed as
osmoles per liter of solution.
• For each milliosmole concentration gradient of an

impermeant solute (one that will not permeate the cell
membrane), about 19.3 mmHg osmotic pressure is exerted
across the cell membrane.
• If the cell membrane is exposed to pure water and the

osmolarity of intracellular fluid is 282 mOsm/L, the potential
osmotic pressure that can develop across the cell membrane
is more than 5400 mmHg.
• This demonstrates the large force that can move water across
the cell membrane when the intracellular and extracellular
fluids are not in osmotic equilibrium
Edema
• Edema refers to the presence of excess fluid in the body
tissues.
• Intracellular Edema:
• Two conditions are especially prone to cause intracellular
swelling: (1) depression of the metabolic systems of the
tissues, and (2) lack of adequate nutrition to the cells.
• For example, when blood flow to a tissue is decreased, the
delivery of oxygen and nutrients is reduced.
• If the blood flow becomes too low to maintain normal tissue
metabolism, the cell membrane ionic pumps become
depressed.
• When this occurs, sodium ions that normally leak into the
interior of the cell can no longer be pumped out of the cells,
and the excess sodium ions inside the cells cause osmosis of
water into the cells.
• Extracellular Edema:
• Extracellular fluid edema occurs when there is excess
fluid accumulation in the extracellular spaces.
• There are two general causes of extracellular edema:
(1) abnormal leakage of fluid from the plasma to the
interstitial spaces across the capillaries,
• and (2) failure of the lymphatics to return fluid from
the interstitium back into the blood.
• The most common clinical cause of interstitial fluid
accumulation is excessive capillary fluid filtration.
Edema Caused by Heart Failure
• One of the most serious and most common causes of edema
is heart failure.
• In heart failure, the heart fails to pump blood normally from
the veins into the arteries; this raises venous pressure and
capillary pressure, causing increased capillary filtration.
• In addition, the arterial pressure tends to fall, causing
decreased excretion of salt and water by the kidneys, which
increases blood volume and further raises capillary
hydrostatic pressure to cause still more edema.
• Also, diminished blood flow to the kidneys stimulates
secretion of renin, causing increased formation of angiotensin
II and increased secretion of aldosterone, both of which cause
additional salt and water retention by the kidneys.
• Thus, in untreated heart failure, all these factors acting
together cause serious generalized extracellular edema.

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Body Fluid Compartments

• The extracellular fluid is divided into the interstitial

• There is another small compartment of fluid that is

• For each milliosmole concentration gradient of an

• If the cell membrane is exposed to pure water and the

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