5.2 Cellular degeneration 1 and 2

Question 1

Extent of cellular injury depends on:

Answer 1

• dose
• duration
• vascular flow
• type of cell

Question 2

Cellular changes of irreverable degeneration

Answer 2

• plasma membrane damage
• calcium entry into cell
• mitochondrial swelling
• lysosomal swelling

Question 3

What is hydropic degeneration?

Answer 3

Acute swelling (balloon or bleb)
- excess fluid enters ER = swelling and fluid vacuole in cytoplasm

Caused by: mild hypoxia, viral infection, toxins

Question 4

Pathology of hydropic degeneration

Answer 4

• impaired cell membrane integrity

Gross: paler, slight bulge
Histo: moderate swelling of individual cells

Question 5

What is fatty change (lipidosis)

Answer 5

Accumulation of fatty substances within the cytoplasm

Question 6

Pathology of fatty change

Answer 6

Gross:
- liver - bigger, tan-yellow, rupture prone
- kidney - pale cortex compared to medulla
- heart - flabby streaks in papillary muscles

Histo:
- liver/kidney - globules, vacuoles, nucleus at periphery
- heart - groups of vacuoles along myofibrils

Question 7

Causes of fatty change

Answer 7

Dietary: starvation, over eating, lipotropic derangement

Metabolic: diabetes (type 1), ketosis

Hypoxia: anaemia, ischaemia

Toxins

Question 8

What is mucoid degeneration?

Answer 8

Degeneration of connective tissue involving deposition of mucinous material in ECM

Increase in goblet cells and mucous glands

Question 9

How is hyaline degeneration described?
Histo and gross appearance

Answer 9

Hyaline degeneration of skeletal muscle fibres
Gross: Glassy
Histo: structureless, stains pinkish-red

Question 10

Fibrinioid degeneration

Answer 10

irreversible, uncontrolled cell death that occurs when antigen-antibody complexes are deposited in the walls of blood vessels along with fibrin.

Associated with local hypersensitivity reaction or damage secondary to hypertension

Question 11

Amyloidosis

Answer 11

Group of diseases of abnormal peptide polymerisation and deposition in organs

Causes: chronic inflammation, tumours, prion disease

Question 12

Primary amyloidosis (AL)

Answer 12

Amyloid light chain
- made of complete immunoglobulin light chains secreted by plasma cell tumours

Question 13

Secondary amyloidosis (AA)

Answer 13

Amyloid associated protein
- secondary to inflammation
- deposited in renal glomeruli (dog, cattle)

Gross: pale cortex, white dot glomeruli, stains yellow/brown with iodone

Question 14

Secondary amyloidosis (AA)

Answer 14

Amyloid associated protein
- secondary to inflammation
- deposited in renal glomeruli (dog, cattle)

Gross: pale cortex, white dot glomeruli, stains yellow/brown with iodine

Question 15

Microscopic changes with amyloidosis

Answer 15

• pink deposition in glomerulus, progressively replaces epithelium and endothelium
• cuffs of amyloid around tubules

Question 16

Effects of renal amyloidosis

Answer 16

• sustained loss of protein into urine
• reduced osmotic potential of blood
• oedema in subcutis and abdo cavity

Question 17

Effects in hepatic amyloidosis

Answer 17

• amyloid deposition in lover
• causes hepatomegaly
• high risk of haemorrhage

Question 18

What are viral cellular inclusions?

Answer 18

Accumulations of viral nucleic acid or protein

Question 19

What are abnormal storage products (cellular inclusions)

Answer 19

• hereditary storage disease with missing or defective cellular enzyme
• build up of intermediate metabolites in cytoplasm
• CNS vulnerable as cant regenerate