Cell Injury Flashcards
How do cells adapt to changes in their environment?
Change in size, number, or appearance
What is hyperplasia?
increase in the number of cells
What is hypertrophy?
Increase in the size of a cell due to increased cellular substance
What is atrophy?
Decrease in the size of a cell due to a loss of cellular substance
What is metaplasia?
Substitution of one type of adult cell for another type of adult cell (smoking changing tracheal epithelia from columnar to squamous)
What are two features of irreversible cell injury?
Non-repairable mitochondrial dysfunction
Profound membrane dysfunction
What are 4 main biochemical systems that can lead to cell injury?
Mitochondria
Cellular Ca changes
Integrity of membranes
Integrity of genetic material
What is hypoxia?
a deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching a tissue
What is hypoxemia?
Hypoxia due to oxygen deficiency (low Hb, low artO2)
What is ischemia?
Hypoxia due to a loss of blood supply
Describe the hypoxic injury model
Ischemia will lead to mitochondrial damage, due to decreased oxidative phosphorylation. This will result in decreased ATP which will have three distinct results.
- decrease Na pump which results in an influx of Ca, H20, and Na and an efflux of K. This leads to ER/cellular swelling, and blebs
- increased anaerobic glycolysis leading to decreased glycogen, increased lactic acid, and decreased pH
- detachment of ribosomes resulting in decreased protein synthesis and lipid deposition
A loss of energy results in increased cellular Ca, which leads to what?
altered membrane permeability and activation of intracellular enzymes
What happens when membrane permeability is altered?
intracellular enzymes can leak from cell into vascular compartment
How can we confirm a clinical diagnosis of a disease?
measure elevated levels of intracellular enzymes
What intracellular enzymes would be elevated from myocardial cells in an acute MI?
CK or troponin
What intracellular enzymes would be elevated from hepatocytes in hepatitis?
AST/ALT
What would be elevated in shock? Why?
Lactic acid levels would be increased (metabolic acidosis) as a byproduct of anaerobic glycolysis