Not just for breathing Researchers reveal undiscovered lung function

Lungs supply the body with oxygen - and with blood
Every organ in the human body fulfills an important function. The lungs, for example, are responsible for the supply of oxygen. Researchers have now discovered that that's not all. They found that the respiratory system also produces blood.

Blood formation especially in the bone marrow
An adult human has about five to six liters of blood, which supplies the cells with nutrients and oxygen and transports degradation products to the excretory organs. Blood cells have a limited lifespan, so constantly new blood cells must be formed. The majority of it is formed in the bone marrow. But researchers from the US have now discovered that blood is also produced in the lungs.

The lungs supply our body with vital oxygen. But the respiratory organ obviously fulfills another function. According to US researchers, blood is also produced in the lungs. (Image: magicmine / fotolia.com)

Lungs not only provide the body with oxygen
The lungs ensure that our body is supplied with oxygen. But the organ can evidently do more.

Scientists at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) report in the journal Nature that the lungs can also produce blood, and that's a lot.

In an experiment with mice, the experts discovered that within an hour, the lungs produce over ten million platelets that are produced from megakaryocytes.

The US researchers suspect that the megakaryocytes arise in the bone marrow and start in the lung with the production of platelets.

Observation in mice
Scientists now assume that the lungs also play a role in the formation of blood in humans.

"These findings definitely suggest a more complex view of the lungs - that they are not just for breathing, but also play a vital role in the formation of blood," said Mark R. Looney of the UCSF in a statement from the university.

"What we have seen here in mice strongly suggests that the lungs can play a key role in the formation of blood in humans as well."

However, the findings are not completely new. For example, scientists wrote years ago in the journal "Pneumology" that in rare cases, people can develop blood in the lungs.

At that time, the scientists reported the case of a female patient suffering from osteomyelofibrosis and in whom the formation of blood in the lungs was observed. (Ad)