Day 1 Practice Exam Questions

Question 1

Name and describe the three different types of cellular signalling

Answer 1

Nerve signalling
- Regulates muscles/glands, a neurone is a single nerve cell that sends a message in the form of a nerve impulse or action potential, rapid, long distance, neurotransmitters, synapse, receptors on the target cell

Endocrine signalling
-Signals in the form of hormones are sent around the body in the bloodstream from endocrine glands or tissues to target cells, slow, widespread/non-specific distribution

Local signalling
- Occurs between cells that are adjacent or very close to each other, chemical messengers e.g inflammatory mediators

Question 2

List the different types of cellular change and describe what happens in each type of change

Answer 2

Atrophy - decrease in size of cells
Hypertrophy - increase in size of cells
Hyperplasia - increase in the number of cells
Metaplasia - specific cell type replaced with another type of cell
Dysplasia - changes in variation of shape, size and distribution of cells

Question 3

Discuss the differences between the two different types of cell death

Answer 3

Necrosis
- Due to cell injury
- The cell swells and membrane becomes deformed
- The cell membrane eventually ruptures and cell contents leak out
- Stimulates the inflammatory/infection response

Apoptosis
- Programmed cell death
- Cell membrane shrinks and forms blebs which contain cell contents and organelles
- The blebs (apoptotic bodies) are removed by macrophages

Question 4

Describe the differences between endemic, epidemic and pandemic

Answer 4

Endemic - A disease found within a population and is maintained at a constant baseline level
Epidemic - Widespread occurrence of an infectious disease within a community at a particular time
Pandemic - An infectious disease which has spread over a large region normally continents or globally

Question 5

Amy is a 5-year-old female who has fallen over and grazed her left knee. She notices a few hours later that her skin around the grazes has become red and hot to touch; there is mild swelling, and it is slightly painful to touch. Name and describe the pathophysiological process causing this

Answer 5

Acute inflammatory response/acute inflammation

1. Release of inflammatory mediators
   - Histamine
   - Prostaglandins
   - Leukotrienes
   - Pro-inflammatory cytokines
   - Chemokines
   - Bradykinins
   - Complement
   - Clotting factors
2. Vascular response
   - Vasodilation / heat and redness
   - Increased blood vessel permeability
   - Outflow of fluid exudate/development of oedema/pain
   - Recruitment of inflammatory mediators/immune cells from the blood
3. Cellular response
   - Immune cells
   - Phagocytosis
   - Macrophages
   - Neutrophils
   - Development of pus