Haematopoiesis refers to the formation of blood cellular components, including both white and red blood cells. All cellular blood components are derived from haematopoietic stem cells located within the bone marrow. In a healthy adult, approximately 10¹¹–10¹² new blood cells are produced daily to maintain equilibrium levels in peripheral circulation.

Leukocyte Haematopoiesis

Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) reside in the bone marrow and have the unique ability to give rise to all mature blood cell types through differentiation into other progenitor cells. HSCs are self-renewing. When they proliferate, at least some daughter cells remain HSCs, so the pool of stem cells does not become depleted over time. The daughters are the myeloid and lymphoid progenitor cells, which cannot self renew but differentiate into various myeloid leukocytes and lymphocytes respectively. This is one of the body's vital processes.

Leukocyte Lineages

Two different leukocyte lineages and two non-leukocyte lineages arise from the progeny of HSCs. Following this split in differentiation, the subtypes undergo eventual differentiation into terminally-differentiated leukocytes, which typically do not divide independently.

1. The lymphocyte lineage derives from common lymphoid progenitor cells, which in turn become lymphoblasts before differentiating into T cells, B cells, and NK cells.
2. Myelocytes are an offshoot of common myeloid progenitor cells, which also differentiate into the erythropoietic and magakaryotic progenitors. This diverse group differentiates into granulocytes and monocytes. Monocytes further differentiate into macrophages or dendritic cells upon reaching certain tissues.
3. Megakaryocytes (the cells that produce platelets) and erythrocytes (red blood cells) are not formally considered to be leukocytes, but arise from the common myeloid progenitor cells that produce the other cellular components of blood.

Hematopoiesis in Humans

This diagram shows hematopoiesis as it occurs in humans.

Sites of Haematopoesis in Pre- and Postnatal Periods

In developing embryos, blood formation occurs in aggregates of blood cells in the yolk sac called blood islands. However, most of blood supply comes from the mother through the placenta. As development progresses, blood formation occurs primarily in the spleen, liver, and lymph nodes .

When bone marrow develops, it eventually assumes the task of forming most of the blood cells for the entire organism. However, maturation, activation, and some proliferation of lymphoid cells occurs in lymphoid organs (spleen, thymus, and lymph nodes). In children, haematopoiesis occurs in the marrow of the long bones such as the femur and tibia. In adults, it occurs mainly in the pelvis, cranium, vertebrae, and sternum.

In some cases, the liver, thymus, and spleen may resume their haematopoietic function if necessary. This is called extramedullary haematopoiesis. It may cause these organs to hypertrophy and increase in size substantially. During fetal development, the liver functions as the main haematopoetic organ since bones and marrow develop later. Therefore, the liver is enlarged during development relative to its mature proportions.