Which organ filters red blood cells?

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Multiple Choice

Which organ filters red blood cells?

Filtering red blood cells is a job for the spleen. In the spleen’s red pulp, old and damaged erythrocytes are trapped as they pass through narrow spaces, and specialized macrophages consume these cells. This cleanup recycles important components: iron is saved, globin is reused, and the heme portion becomes bilirubin for disposal by the liver. The liver then processes bilirubin, but it doesn’t directly filter out red blood cells. The kidneys focus on filtering plasma to make urine, not on removing whole red blood cells, and the pancreas has no role in this function. So the spleen is the organ that filters red blood cells.

Filtering red blood cells is a job for the spleen. In the spleen’s red pulp, old and damaged erythrocytes are trapped as they pass through narrow spaces, and specialized macrophages consume these cells. This cleanup recycles important components: iron is saved, globin is reused, and the heme portion becomes bilirubin for disposal by the liver. The liver then processes bilirubin, but it doesn’t directly filter out red blood cells. The kidneys focus on filtering plasma to make urine, not on removing whole red blood cells, and the pancreas has no role in this function. So the spleen is the organ that filters red blood cells.

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