<P> The human body and even its individual body fluids may be conceptually divided into various fluid compartments, which, although not literally anatomic compartments, do represent a real division in terms of how portions of the body's water, solutes, and suspended elements are segregated . The two main fluid compartments are the intracellular and extracellular compartments . The intracellular compartment is the space within the organism's cells; it is separated from the extracellular compartment by cell membranes . </P> <P> About two thirds of the total body water of humans is held in the cells, mostly in the cytosol, and the remainder is found in the extracellular compartment . The extracellular fluids may be divided into three types: interstitial fluid in the "interstitial compartment" (surrounding tissue cells and bathing them in a solution of nutrients and other chemicals), blood plasma and lymph in the "intravascular compartment" (inside the blood vessels and lymphatic vessels), and small amounts of transcellular fluid such as ocular and cerebrospinal fluids in the "transcellular compartment". The interstitial and intravascular compartments readily exchange water and solutes but the third extracellular compartment, the transcellular, is thought of as separate from the other two and not in dynamic equilibrium with them . </P> <P> The intracellular fluid, also known as cytosol, is all fluid contained inside the cells . It is the matrix in which cellular organelles are suspended . The cytosol and organelles together compose the cytoplasm . The cell membranes are the outer barrier . In humans, the intracellular compartment contains on average about 8 litres of fluid, and under ordinary circumstances remains in osmotic equilibrium . It contains moderate quantities of magnesium and sulphate ions . </P>

Intracellular fluid (icf) and extracellular fluid (ecf) compartments