Exam III: Inflammation Part I Flashcards
Typical Inflammatory Reaction
The offending agent is located in extravascular tissues and recognized by host cells and molecules
Leukocytes and plasma proteins are recruited from the circulation to the site of offending agent
Leukocytes and proteins are activated and work together to destroy and eliminate the offending substance
Reaction is controlled and terminated
The damaged tissue is repaired
Steps of Inflammatory Process
(1) recognition of the injurious agent
(2) recruitment of leukocytes
(3) removal of the agent
(4) regulation (control) of the response
(5) resolution (repair)
Acute vs. Chronic: General
Acute or chronic inflammation
Depends on the nature of the stimulus
Effectiveness of the initial reaction in eliminating the stimulus or the damaged tissues
Acute Inflammation
Rapid in onset/host response (minutes)
Short duration (hours or a few days)
Exudation of fluid and plasma proteins (edema)
Delivers leukocytes and plasma proteins to the sites of infection or tissue injury
Three major components:
- Alterations in vascular caliber
- Structural changes in the microvasculature
- Emigration of the leukocytes (neutrophils)
Chronic Inflammation
May follow acute inflammation
May be insidious in onset
Longer duration
Presence of lymphocytes and macrophages
Proliferation of blood vessels and fibrosis
Tissue destruction
Granulomatous inflammation is a subset of chronic inflammation
Cardinal Signs of Inflammation
Rubor (redness) Tumor (swelling) Calor (heat) Dolor (pain) Loss of function (functio laesa)
Signs are typically more prominent in acute inflammation
Stimuli for Acute Inflammation
Infections (bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic) and microbial toxins- most common and medically important causes
Tissue necrosis: ischemia, trauma, physical, and chemical injury
Foreign bodies: impaled finger or foot with something = cuts can cause bad infections
Immune reactions: allergies
Exudate
Inflammatory extravascular fluid
High protein concentration
Specific gravity > 1.020
Usually due to increased permeability
An inflammatory process caused by something causing increased vascularity to allow leukocytes to come in
Transudate
Fluid with low protein concentration (albumin)
Specific gravity < 1.012
Permeability usually not increased (due to a pressure response)
changes in pressure= renal failure, liver failure, heart failure, etc.
Edema
Excess interstitial fluid
Can be either an exudate or transudate
Excess INTERSTITIAL fluid/ vascular tissue; can be a pressure change or vascular change
Absorb water with sponge and stick needle in sponge you will not be able to get out the water because it is trapped in many compartments… same with patient, cannot just “drain” the fluid, need to restore lymphatic system
Pus
Purulent exudate containing leukocytes (neutrophils), debris of dead cells, and microbes/bacteria
When you write in a patient chart that you found a pocket of pus = purulent exudate
Hydrostatic and Colloid Pressure Changes
Normal: balance of hydrostatic and colloid osmotic pressure to keep plasma proteins to stay within the vessels
Transudate: fluid leakage caused by pressure change; proteins are still within the vessel; increased hydrostatic pressure due to venous outflow obstruction like in congestive heart failure; decreased colloid pressure due to decreased protein synthesis like in liver disease or increased protein loss like in kidney disease
Exudate: increased protein concentration because leakage of fluid and proteins outside of the vessels due to increased interendothelial spaces
Steps of Inflammatory Process
Vasodilation with exudation leads to an outpouring of fluid with fibrin into the alveolar spaces, along with PMN’s. The series of events in the process of inflammation are:
- Vasodilation: leads to greater blood flow to the area of inflammation, resulting in redness and heat.
- Vascular permeability: endothelial cells become “leaky” from either direct endothelial cell injury or via chemical mediators.
- Exudation: fluid, proteins, red blood cells, and white blood cells escape from the intravascular space as a result of increased osmotic pressure extravascularly and increased hydrostatic pressure intravascularly
- Vascular stasis: slowing of the blood in the bloodstream with vasodilation and fluid exudation to allow chemical mediators and inflammatory cells to collect and respond to the stimulus.
Vascular Changes
Earliest manifestations of acute inflammation
Follows a transient constriction of arterioles
Lasts a few seconds
First involves the arterioles
Leads to opening of new capillary beds
Result is increased blood flow causing heat and redness (erythema) at the site of inflammation
Induced by the action of several mediators such as histamine and nitric oxide
Followed by increased permeability of the microvasculature causing an outpouring of protein-rich fluid into the extravascular tissues
Loss of Fluid and Increase in Diameter of Vessels
Leads to slower blood flow, concentration of red cells in small vessels, and increased viscosity of the blood
Changes result in dilation of small vessels
Packed with slowly moving red cells
Increased vascular permeability created by inter-endothelial spaces
When protein rich fluid leaks out = slows down blood flow to get hemo-concentration (cells concentrate in inflammation so neutrophils can come), increased concentration of RBCs causing the blood to thicken= stasis
See leukocytes that start in center and migrate outwards to get into the vascular tissue; endothelial cells become activated by mediator depending on process occur and see leukocytes adhering to them
As Stasis Progresses
Leukocytes (neutrophils) accumulate along the vascular endothelium
Endothelial cells are activated by mediators produced at sites of infection and tissue damage
Express increased levels of adhesion molecules
Leukocytes then adhere to the endothelium then migrate through the vascular wall into the interstitial tissue
Hallmark of Acute Inflammation
Hallmark of acute inflammation= increased vascular permeability
Leads to the escape of a protein-rich exudate into the extravascular tissue causing edema
Mechanisms of Increased Permeability
Contraction of endothelial cells
Results in increased interendothelial spaces
Most common mechanism of vascular leakage
Elicited by histamine, bradykinin, leukotrienes, the neuropeptide substance P, and many other mediators
Called the immediate transient response, which occurs rapidly after exposure to the mediator- usually short-lived (15-30 minutes)
Endothelial Injury and Transcytosis
Endothelial injury
Results in endothelial cell necrosis and detachment
Direct damage to the endothelium from trauma, injury, or iatrogenic (physician cause)
Transcytosis
Increased transport of fluids and proteins through the endothelial cell
seen in transudate through endothelial cells without any other kind of damage
Principle Mechanisms of Increased Vascular Permeability
Endothelium on basement membrane with leukocytes and plasma proteins; laminar flow causes white cells to be in the center of the vessels, but when blood flow slows down the cells start to tumble and come out of the endothelial cells
Retraction of Endothelial Cells: occurs in venules, short lived/rapid leakage of protein and fluid; induced by NO, histamine, and other mediators
Endothelial Injury: chemical, burn, toxin, etc. and causing the endothelial cells to die- can last longer (hours to days depending); rapid process and occurs in arterioles, capillaries and venules
Leukocyte-Mediated Vascular Injury: leukocytes adhere to endothlelial cells – hours and later stages of process; occurs in venules and pulmonary capillaries
Increased Transcytosis: occurs in venules and induced by VEGF; fluid can get to vascular lumen into surrounding tissue
Responses of Lymphatics
Lymphatics and lymph nodes filter and police the extravascular fluids
Normally drain the small amount of extravascular fluid that leaked out of capillaries
Inflammation
Lymph flow is increased and helps drain edema fluid
Accumulates due to increased vascular permeability
Lymphatic vessels proliferate during inflammatory reactions
Lymphatics may become secondarily inflamed (lymphangitis)
Draining lymph nodes may become inflamed (lymphadenitis)
Hyperplasia of the lymphoid follicles (increase in cell #)
Increased numbers of lymphocytes and macrophages
Recruitment of Leukocytes
Recruitment from the blood into extravascular tissues
Recognition of microbes and necrotic tissues
Removal of the offending agent
Extravasation
Journey of leukocytes: vessel lumen to the interstitial tissue
Lumen: margination, rolling, and adhesion to endothelium via P and E-selections causing them to adhere and integrins cause them to go through the basement membrane
Migration across endothelium and vessel wall
Migration in the tissues toward a chemotactic stimulus
Margination
Blood flow slows early in inflammation (stasis)
Hemodynamic conditions change (wall shear stress decreases)
More white cells assume a peripheral position along the endothelial surface
Rolling on the vessel wall- individual and then rows of leukocytes adhere transiently to the endothelium, detach, and then bind again
Cells finally come to rest at some point and firmly attach
Leukocyte Migration
Transmigration or diapedesis
Occurs mainly in post-capillary venules
Chemokines act on the adherent leukocytes
Stimulate the cells to migrate through interendothelial spaces toward the chemical concentration gradient
Toward the site of injury or infection where the chemokines are being produced
It crawls all the way along using its pseudopod to get to area of injury via chemokines (specific chemical mediators that have chemotactic signaling to the white cells) that bring leukocytes to the area or you would get crazy amounts of inflammation everywhere in the body
Chemotaxis of Leukocytes
After exiting the circulation leukocytes emigrate in tissues toward the site of injury
Chemotaxis: locomotion oriented along a chemical gradient
Chemoattractants: exogenous substances, bacterial products, lipids, endogenous substances
Chemical mediators: cytokines, components of the complement system, arachidonic acid (AA)
Leukocyte movement: extending filopodia/pseudopods to pull the back of the cell in the direction of extension and migrate toward the inflammatory stimulus
Leukocytic Infiltrate
Nature of the leukocyte infiltrate varies with the age of the inflammatory response and with the type of stimulus
Acute inflammation: neutrophils predominate in the inflammatory infiltrate during the first 6 to 24 hours, but then replaced by monocytes in 24 to 48 hours
When monocytes turn into tissue macrophages they survive longer and may proliferate in the tissues becoming the dominant population in chronic inflammatory reactions
Exceptions in Leukocytic Infiltration Populations
Pseudomonas bacteria: cellular infiltrate is dominated by continuously recruited neutrophils for several days instead of only lasting 6-24 hours
Viral infections: lymphocytes may be the first cells to arrive instead of neutrophils
Hypersensitivity reactions and parasitic infections: eosinophils may be the main cell type
Recognition of Microbes and Dead Tissue
Leukocyte recruitment to site of infection
Must be activated to perform their functions
Recognition of the offending agents
Deliver signals
Activate the leukocytes to ingest and destroy the offending agents and amplify the inflammatory reaction
Trends of an MI
First 1.5 days = edema of tissues peaking at 12 hours
First 2.5 days = neutrophil infiltration peaking at 24 hours
Monocytes and Macrophages from beginning, but peak at 48 hours and slowly decrease population
3 Steps of Phagocytosis
Clean up of inflammation
- Recognition and attachment of the particle to be ingested by the leukocyte
- Engulfment with subsequent formation of a phagocytic vacuole
- Killing or degradation of the ingested material
Engulfment & Degradation
After a particle is bound to phagocyte receptors:
Extensions of the cytoplasm (pseudopods)
Plasma membrane pinches off to form a vesicle (phagosome)
Encloses the particle and fuses with a lysosomal granule
Discharge of the granule’s contents into the phagolysosome
Final step in the elimination of infectious agents and necrotic cells occurs within neutrophils and macrophages
Microbial killing involving ROS and reactive nitrogen species