Cell injury Flashcards
Severe changes in the environment lead to
cell adaptation, injury or cell death.
Degree of injury depends on:
Type of injury
Severity of injury
Duration of injury
Type of tissue

What can causes injury to a cell?
- Hypoxia
- Toxins
- Physical agents
- Direct trauma
- Extreme temp
- Changes in pressure
- Electric currents
- Radiation
- Microorganisms
- Immune mechanism
- Dietary insufficiency and deficiency’s, dietary excess
Cell components most susceptible to injury
1. Cell membranes
- Plasma membrane
- Organelle membrane
2. Nucleus
- DNA
3. Proteins
- Structural (enzymes)
5. Mitochondria (oxidative phosphorylation)
How does the immune system damage the body’s cells?
Hypersensivity reactions
Autoimmune reactions
Hypersensivity reactions
host tissue is injured secondary to an overly vigorous immune reaction e.g. urticaria (hives)
Autoimmune reactions
immune system fails to distinguish self from non-self e.g. Graves disease of thyroid
hypoxia is due to
ischaemia
ischaemia
is insufficient blood flow to provide adequate oxygenation.
causes of hypoxia
hypoxaemic hypoxia
anaemic hypoxia
ischaemic hypoxia
histotoxic hypoxia
Hypoxaemic hypoxia
-arterial content of oxygen is low
- Reduced inspired pO2 at altitude
- Reduced absorption secondary to lung disease
Anaemic hypoxia
decreased ability of haemoglobin to carry oxygen
- Anaemia
- CO poisoning
Ischaemic hypoxia
interruption to blood supply
- Blockage of a vessel
- Heart failure
Histotoxic hypoxia
inability to utilise oxygen in cells due to disabled oxidative phosphorylation enzymes
- Cyanide poisoning
hypoxia can be
reversible or irreversible (if prolonged)
- Ischaemia causes a reduction in oxidative phos in the mitochondria
- Less ATP produced
-
Reduced Na pump = influx of calcium, H2O and Na+, effluent of K+
- cellular swelling
- Loss of microvilli
- Bless
- ER swelling
- Myelin figures
-
Increased glycolysis
- decreased pH (cli]umping of nuclear chromatin)
- Decreased glycogen 5) other affects
- detachment of ribosomes
- Decreased protein synthesis
- Lipid depositor
- Decreased protein synthesis

prolonged hypoxia is
irreversible

characteristics of injured/dying cell
- cytoplasmic changes
- nuclear changes
- abnormal cellular accumulations
blebs
generalised swelling

nuclear changes
- abnormal clumping of nuclear chromatin
Abnormal cellular accumulations
- dispersion of ribosomes, swelling of mitochondria and ER
alive vs injured vs dead cells

Pyknosis
is the irreversible condensation of chromatin in the nucleus of a cell undergoing necrosis or apoptosis. It is followed by karyorrhexis, or fragmentation of the nucleus.
Karyorrhexis
is the destructive fragmentation of the nucleus of a dying cell whereby its chromatin is distributed irregularly throughout the cytoplasm.






