Acute Inflammation

Question 1

What are causes for acute inflammation?

Answer 1

• Tissue death: Ischaemia, trauma, toxins, chemical insults, radiation, thermal injury
• Infection: pyogenic (bacterial)

Question 2

What are the purposes of acute inflammation?

Answer 2

• Clear away dead tissue
• Locally protect from infection
• Allow access of immune system components

Question 3

What are the 3 outcomes of acute inflammation?

Answer 3

• Cells can regrow= Healing by regeneration
• Cells cannot regrow= Healing by repair
• Damaging agents persist= chronic inflammation

Question 4

What are clinical features of inflammation and why do they occur?

Answer 4

Cardinal signs

• Calor= heat (vascular dilatation)
• Rubor= redness (vascular dilatation)
• Dolor= pain
• Tumor= swelling (inflammatory exudate into surrounding tissue)

Question 5

Name different types of inflammation and describe them

Answer 5

• Serous= produces serous exudate
• Fibrinous= exudate of coagulated fibrin
• Purulent= suppurative
• Pseudomembranous= on mucosal surface of a false membrane composed of precipitated fibrin, necrotic epithelium, and inflammatory leukocytes.

Question 6

What are components of an acute inflammatory response?

Answer 6

• Vascular reaction=dilatation/change in flow
• Exudative reaction= tumor
• Cellular reaction= migration of inflammatory cells out of vessel

Question 7

What are systemic effects if inflammation?

Answer 7

• Pyrexia (raised temperature)

- Acute phase reaction

Question 8

Describe the vascular reaction part of the inflammatory process

Answer 8

-Microvascular dilatation
-Increased permeability:
>mediated=NO, bradykinin, histamine, Leukotriene B4,
complement components
>non-mediated= direct damage to endothelium, toxins,
physical agents

Question 9

Describe the components of inflammatory exudate?

Answer 9

• Protein rich= immunoglobulins, fibrinogen

- constantly turning over (spread of drugs/antibiotics, supply of nutrients)

Question 10

Describe the cellular part of the inflammatory reaction

Answer 10

-Accumulation of neutrophils in extracellular space

Question 11

Describe neutrophils

Answer 11

• Produced in bone marrow
• Most common white cell
• Inc in acute inflammation
• Short lifespan
• Motile, amoeboid, can move into tissue
• Phagocytic and microbiocidal
• O2 independant, lysozyme, lactoferrin cationic proteins
• O2 dependent Myeloperoxidase, H2O2, Cl-,O2-

Question 12

How do inflammatory cells move in a blood vessel?

Answer 12

• Margination
• Rolling & adhesion=pavementing
• Migration
• Chemotaxis

Question 13

What are the 2 types of acute inflammatory mediators?

Answer 13

• Cell derived

- Plasma derived

Question 14

Name types of cell derived mediators?

Answer 14

• Stored= Histamine

- Synthesised= Prostaglandins, PAF, Leukotrienes, NO, cytokines (TNFa, IL-8), chemokines

Question 15

Name types of plasma derived mediators?

Answer 15

• Kinin system
• Clotting pathway
• Thrombolytic pathway
• Complement pathway

Question 16

What mediators cause vascular dilatation, inc permeability, neutrophil adhesion & chemotaxis?

Answer 16

• VD= Histamine, NO, I2
• IP= Histamine, bradykinin, NO
• NA= upregulation of adhesion molecules- IL-2
• NC= IL-8, chemokines

Question 17

What are the components of pus?

Answer 17

Neutrophils, cellular debris and bacteria