Review of Physiological Aspects of Erythropoiesis: A Narrative Literature Review

Abstract

Erythropoiesis is the development of red blood cells. Within the confines of the bone marrow, erythroid progenitor cells proliferate and differentiate into large nucleated proerythroblasts, which are committed to producing cells of the erythroid series. This literature review aimed to describe the physiology of erythropoiesis and its application in medical science. All stages of erythroid development are referred to as the erythron. Proerythroblasts, which possess ribosomes and can produce proteins, differentiate through several forms between erythroblasts while synthesizing hemoglobin and progressively removing most of the intracellular structures, including the nucleus. Thus the mature erythroblast becomes more compact and progressively takes on the shape and characteristics of the erythrocyte. Hemoglobin is easily seen, and its amount increases as the size of the nucleus decreases during the basophilic and polychromatophilic stages. The orthochromatic erythroblast (normoblast) is the smallest of the nucleated erythrocyte precursors.