Body fluids, bodily fluids, or biofluids, sometimes body liquids, are

liquid Liquid is a state of matter with a definite volume but no fixed shape. Liquids adapt to the shape of their container and are nearly incompressible, maintaining their volume even under pressure. The density of a liquid is usually close to th ...

s within the body of an organism. In lean healthy adult men, the total

body water In physiology, body water is the water content of an animal body that is contained in the tissues, the blood, the bones and elsewhere. The percentages of body water contained in various fluid compartments add up to total body water (TBW). This ...

is about 60% (60–67%) of the total body weight; it is usually slightly lower in women (52–55%). The exact percentage of fluid relative to body weight is inversely proportional to the percentage of body fat. A lean man, for example, has about 42 (42–47) liters of water in his body. The total body of water is divided into fluid compartments, between the

intracellular fluid The human body and even its individual body fluids may be conceptually divided into various fluid compartments, which, although not literally fascial compartment, anatomic compartments, do represent a real division in terms of how portions of the ...

compartment (also called space, or volume) and the

extracellular fluid In cell biology, extracellular fluid (ECF) denotes all body fluid outside the cells of any multicellular organism. Total body water in healthy adults is about 50–60% (range 45 to 75%) of total body weight; women and the obese typically ha ...

(ECF) compartment (space, volume) in a two-to-one ratio: 28 (28–32) liters are inside cells and 14 (14–15) liters are outside cells. The ECF compartment is divided into the

interstitial fluid In cell biology, extracellular fluid (ECF) denotes all body fluid outside the Cell (biology), cells of any multicellular organism. Body water, Total body water in healthy adults is about 50–60% (range 45 to 75%) of total body weight; women ...

volume – the fluid outside both the cells and the blood vessels – and the intravascular volume (also called the vascular volume and

blood plasma Blood plasma is a light Amber (color), amber-colored liquid component of blood in which blood cells are absent, but which contains Blood protein, proteins and other constituents of whole blood in Suspension (chemistry), suspension. It makes up ...

volume) – the fluid inside the blood vessels – in a three-to-one ratio: the interstitial fluid volume is about 12 liters; the vascular volume is about 4 liters. The interstitial fluid compartment is divided into the lymphatic fluid compartment – about 2/3, or 8 (6–10) liters, and the

transcellular fluid In cell biology, extracellular fluid (ECF) denotes all body fluid outside the cells of any multicellular organism. Total body water in healthy adults is about 50–60% (range 45 to 75%) of total body weight; women and the obese typically ha ...

compartment (the remaining 1/3, or about 4 liters). The vascular volume is divided into the

venous Veins () are blood vessels in the circulatory system of humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are those of the pulmonary and fetal c ...

volume and the

arterial An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...

volume; and the arterial volume has a conceptually useful but unmeasurable subcompartment called the effective arterial blood volume.

Compartments by location

(ICF), which consist of

cytosol The cytosol, also known as cytoplasmic matrix or groundplasm, is one of the liquids found inside cells ( intracellular fluid (ICF)). It is separated into compartments by membranes. For example, the mitochondrial matrix separates the mitochondri ...

and fluids in the

cell nucleus The cell nucleus (; : nuclei) is a membrane-bound organelle found in eukaryote, eukaryotic cell (biology), cells. Eukaryotic cells usually have a single nucleus, but a few cell types, such as mammalian red blood cells, have #Anucleated_cells, ...

Extracellular fluid In cell biology, extracellular fluid (ECF) denotes all body fluid outside the cells of any multicellular organism. Total body water in healthy adults is about 50–60% (range 45 to 75%) of total body weight; women and the obese typically ha ...

** Intravascular fluid (blood plasma) **

Interstitial fluid In cell biology, extracellular fluid (ECF) denotes all body fluid outside the Cell (biology), cells of any multicellular organism. Body water, Total body water in healthy adults is about 50–60% (range 45 to 75%) of total body weight; women ...

** Lymphatic fluid (sometimes included in interstitial fluid) **

Transcellular fluid In cell biology, extracellular fluid (ECF) denotes all body fluid outside the cells of any multicellular organism. Total body water in healthy adults is about 50–60% (range 45 to 75%) of total body weight; women and the obese typically ha ...

Health

Clinical samples

Clinical samples are generally defined as non-infectious human or animal materials including

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood is com ...

saliva Saliva (commonly referred as spit or drool) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which ...

excreta Excretion is elimination of metabolic waste, which is an essential process in all organisms. In vertebrates, this is primarily carried out by the lungs, kidneys, and skin. This is in contrast with secretion, where the substance may have specifi ...

body tissue In biology, tissue is an assembly of similar cells and their extracellular matrix from the same embryonic origin that together carry out a specific function. Tissues occupy a biological organizational level between cells and a complete org ...

and

tissue fluid In cell biology, extracellular fluid (ECF) denotes all body fluid outside the cells of any multicellular organism. Total body water in healthy adults is about 50–60% (range 45 to 75%) of total body weight; women and the obese typically ha ...

s, and also FDA-approved pharmaceuticals that are

blood products A blood product is any therapeutic substance prepared from blood, usually human blood; in some medicolegal contexts, the term refers specifically to human-blood-derived products. Blood products include whole blood, blood components, and blood pla ...

. In medical contexts, it is a specimen taken for diagnostic examination or evaluation, and for identification of

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...

or condition.specimen
- The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 7 August 2014

References

External links

* {{Authority control Medical diagnosis Medical terminology

Compartments by location

Health

Clinical samples

See also

References

Further reading

External links