Midterm Flashcards
Causes of Cell Injury
- Oxygen deprivation
- Physical agents
- Chemical agents and drugs
- Infectious agents
- Immunologic reactions
- Genetic alterations
- Nutritional imbalances
Causes of Cell Injury: Oxygen Deprivation
-Hypoxia is a deficiency of oxygen
-Ischemia is a loss of blood supply from arterial flow or reduced venous drainage
+It occurs in highly perfused organs like the kidney, heart and brain
Causes of Cell Injury: Physical Agents
- Mechanical trauma can occur due to injury from a blow, crush, cut or penetrating wound
- Extremes of temperature
- Radiation
- Electric shock
Causes of Cell Injury: Chemical Agents and Drugs
- Hypertonic salt concentrations - alteration of electrolyte homeostasis
- Poisons such as arsenic, cyanide, and mercuric salts
- Insecticides and herbicides
- Air pollutants such as CO2
- Alcohol and narcotics
Causes of Cell Injury: Infectious Agents
- Parasites
- Fungi
- Bacteria
- Viruses
Causes of Cell Injury: Immunologic Reactions
- Anaphylactic reaction to foreign protein and drug
- Reactions to endogenous self-antigens (autoimmune response)
Causes of Cell Injury: Genetic Alterations
- Congenital malformation
- Decreased life of RBC
- Inborn error of metabolism
Causes of Cell Injury: Nutritional Imbalances
- Protein-calorie deficiencies
- Vitamin deficiencies
- Excesses of lipids (obesity, atherosclerosis)
- Metabolic diseases (diabetes)
Mechanisms of Cell Injury
- Depletion of ATP
- Influx of Ca2+ and Loss of Ca2+ Homeostasis
- Excess calcium in the cytosol leads to decrease in ATP and in phospholipids, leading to disruption of proteins and chromatic damage –> NECROSIS - Mitochondrial Damage
- Causes: Hypoxia, toxins, oxidative stress - Accumulation of Oxygen-Derived Free Radical
- Oxidative stress caused by superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide - Defects in Membrane Permeability
- Causes: mitochondrial dysfunction, loss of membrane phospholipide
Mechanisms of Cell Injury: Depletion of ATP
- Causes: Hypoxia, ischemia, chemical injury
- Major consequence of dysfunctional sodium and calcium pumps because they result in increase influx of calcium, sodium and water –> swelling –> formation of BLEBS, which are small fragments of cell membrane that detach –> cell goes into anaerobic glycolysis and lactic acid increases –> pH more acidic
Ischemia leads to a decrease in oxidative phosphorylation and ATP, which leads…
- Decrease in sodium pump –> increase in sodium, calcium and water influx; increase in potassium efflux –> swelling and bleb formation
- Increase in anaerobic glycolysis –> decreased glycogen and pH –> clumping of nuclear chromatin
- Other: Ribosomes detach –> decrease protein synthesis –> lipid deposition
Types of Cell Death
- Necrosis
2. Apoptosis
Types of Cell Death: Necrosis
Necrosis is the premature death of cells caused by infection or the interruption of blood supply
- Always pathologic as a result of irreversible injury
- Types
1. Coagulative necrosis
2. Liquefactive necrosis
3. Caseous necrosis
4. Fat necrosis
Coagulative Necrosis
- Dead tissue is preserved for a span of time so that the cells are dead but still present
- Localized area of coagulative necrosis is called an infarct
- Characterized by
1. Intracellular acidosis
2. Denaturation of proteins and enzymes
3. Inhibition of proteolysis
Liquefactive Necrosis
- Focal bacterial or fungal infections ingest cells
- Characterized by
1. Accumulation of inflammatory cells
2. Digestion of dead cells
3. Presence of pus
4. Hypoxic death of cells with CNS
Caseous Necrosis
- Characterized by
1. Encounters gross appearance alteration (white and cheesy) in the area of necrosis
2. Tissue structure completely obliterated
3. Microscopic, granulomatous inflammation
Apoptosis
- Naturally occurring, physiological form of cell death
- Causes
1. Physiological –> required for proper development
2. Pathological –> destruction of cells that threaten an organisms integrity
Apoptosis vs. Necrosis: Mophologically
APOPTOSIS
- Outset: Shrinkage of cytoplasm, condensation of nucleus
- Plasma Membrane: Blebbing without loss of integrity
- Chromatin: Aggregation at nuclear membrane
- Organelles: Mitochondria become leaky due to pore formation
- Vesicles: Formation of apoptopic bodies
- Terminal: Fragmentation of cell into smaller bodies
NECROSIS
- Outset: Swelling of cytoplasm and mitochondria
- Plasma Membrane: Loss of integrity
- Chromatin: NOTHAAANG
- Organelles: Disintegration
- Vesicles: No vesicle formation, complete lysis occurs
- Terminal: Total lysis
Apoptosis vs. Necrosis: Biochemically
APOPTOSIS
- Regulation: Tightly regulated process involving activation of enzymatic steps
- Energy Input: ATP-dependent
- DNA: Non-random mono- and oligonucleosomal fragmentation (ladder of agarose gel)
- Timing: Prolytic DNA fragmentation
- Biochemical Events: Release of factors (cyt c) into cytoplasm by mitochondria and activation of caspase cascade
NECROSIS
- Regulation: Loss of regulation
- Energy Input: None
- DNA: Random digestion (smears of agarose gel)
- Timing: Postlytic DNA fragmentation
- Biochemical Events: NOTHAAANG
Apoptosis vs. Necrosis: Physiological Effect
APOPTOSIS
- Extent: Localized effect that destroys individual cells
- Induction: Induced by physiological stimuli (lack of growth factors changes in hormonal environment)
- Phagocytosis: By adjacent cells or macrophages
- Immune System: No inflammatory response
NECROSIS
- Extent: Affects groups of contiguous cells
- Induction: Non-physiological disturbances (viruses, hypothermia, hypoxia, ischemia, poison)
- Phagocytosis: Macrophages
- Immune System: Significant inflammatory response
Calcium
- Atomic number is 20
- Atomic weight is 40 g/mol
- Valence is +2
- 3.64% of Earth’s crust (5th most abundant element)
- Sea water contains about 400 mg/L (10 mmol/L)
Calcium: Biological Importance
- Stabilizes biological membranes
- Cations are linked to the negatively charged phosphoric part of the phospholipids that comprise the membrane, anchoring them and causing the cell membrane to be firmer and less permeable to other substances - Subcellular signalling
- Key component of the structural material bone
Low calcium causes neurons to fire more readily because ion leakage increases need for active sodium transport, lowering the threshold voltage for firing
Hypocalcemia Testing
- Chvostek Sign
2. Trousseau Sign
Endocrine Control of Calcium
Decrease of calcium leads to
1. Decrease in calcitonin –> decrease in bone formation
2. Increase in PTH –> increase in bone resorption and renal calcium reabsorption
3. Increase in 1,25(OH)2D –> increase in calcium absorption
=> ALL of these lead to an increase in calcium to help get back to homeostasis (negative feedback loop)
The Human Skeleton
- Trabecular bone prevents vertical collapse
- Long bone prevents bending
-Bone is a structurally, self-engineering biomaterial
Bone-Density Through Life
- Average for young women
- This produces a t-score BMD reference point for older women
- Adult bone is a dynamic tissue, in a subtle, negative equilibrium with environment
- Approximately 1% of the human skeleton turns over every month
- Osteoporosis < -2.5 t-score
z-score vs. t-score
z-score compares you to your group
t-score compares you to a different group
Osteoporosis
- Diagnosis when bone density is 2 standard deviations below mean of healthy adults under age 35 (z-score of -2.5 if less than 35, t-score of -2.5 if over 35)
- By 80, most people have osteoporosis (t<-2.5)
- Once you are over 70, bone mineral density is a better predictor of life expectancy than blood pressure or cholesterol
Osteoporosis: Density Modalities
- Bone Mineral Density using a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry
- Ultrasonography is predictive in post menopausal women of fracture risk, but threshold indices yet to be confirmed
Normal Bone Homeostasis
- Bone constantly being turned over
- Remodeling cycle lasts 120 days
- Important to allow remodeling
- Formation and resorption tightly coupled
- Normally, adult bone mass does not increase
- Involved cells: osteocytes, osteoclasts, osteoblasts
Bone Remodeling Process
- Initiation
- Resorption
- Reversal Phase
- Formation
- Remodeling Completed
Biochemistry Tests of Bone Markers
Formation Markers are released as collagen is made
- Bone Specific Alkaline Phosphatase - reflects cellular activity of osteoblasts
- Serum osteocalcin - a bone peptide that is not collagen, it reflects rate of bone protein synthesis by osteoblast
- Amino and carboxy-terminal propeptides of collagen (PINP and PICP)
Resorption Markers are released as collagen is degraded to peptides
- Incompletely digested peptide proteins - collagen crosslinks from the N or C terminals of mature bone collagen
- Calcium - excreted into urine
Clinical Utility of Biochemical Bone Markers
-Bone density is like the odometer in a car
-Bone turnover marker is the speedometer
+High suggests rapid bone loss and risk of fracture
-Bone markers may provide useful adjunct in monitoring osteoporosis
-May be useful to predict fracture risk, rate of bone loss and response to therapy
Role in Diagnosis: Bone Density
- Baseline markers higher in osteoporosis patients compared with healthy controls
- BMD would be expected to be inversely related to bone marker level, but the substantial overlap between normal subjects and osteoporosis
Osteoporosis: Affects on Bone Markers
Age and Gender
- Biochemical markers higher in children
- In men, markers do not change with age
- In women, markers increase at menopause, and remain elevated
- Renal insufficiency may affect markers
Other
- Markers increased with fractures, liver and kidney disease, bedrest
- Markers decreased with heavy exercise
PK Features of Vitamin D Metabolites
Vitamin D3 –> 25(OH)D –> 1,25(OH)2D
- Serum vitamin D rises and falls sharply after a dose of vit D3
- Within 2-3 days, all of a given dose of vit D3 is either stopped in tissues, or converted to 25(OH)D
- Serum 25(OH)D rises gradually over time and if supplies of vit D are removed
- 1,25(OH)2D hormone control to increase calcium absorption and bone development; serum levels are not affected by vit D dose because its production is based on PTH and calcium need
Vitamin D: Autocrine/Paracrine Effects
- Cell differentiation
- Reduce replication
- Immune function
Rickets and Osteomalacia
Rickets
- Weak muscles
- Infection prone
- Vit D deficiency
- Contracted pelvis
Osteomalacia
-Adult rickets
Vitamin D Fortification vs. Supplementation
- Fortification
- Supplementation is overall more expensive (most for iron > iodine = vit A)
Drug vs. Nutrient Clinical Trial
DRUG
- Recruit persons currently at high risk of disease event
- Treat existing condition
- High likelihood to show effect in individual
- Dose-response is linearly related to a certain point
NUTRIENT
- Recruit healthy persons at low risk
- Prevent a currently non-existing future condition
- Low likelihood to show effect in an individual
- There are two graphs produced - one that is the index (classic effect of nutrient) and the other that represents a new, putative effect
Colour Blindness
- Inability to perceive differences between some colours
- Can be caused by mutations on 56 different genes on 19 different chromosomes
- Most commonly inherited from results from mutations on the X chromosome (more common in men)
- 3 Forms
1. Monochromacy - can distinguish no colours
2. Dichromacy - one colour cannot be seen; one cone type is missing
3. Anomalous Trichromacy - one of the cone subtypes has an altered spectral sensitivity
Down Syndrome
-Caused by the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 21
-Life expectancy is not great and death is usually due to heart problems
-Tests can be done to test for this, but are not great
-Signs and symptoms
+Mental retardation
+Stunted growth
+Muscle impairment
+Others: Small teeth, flattened nose, short neck, eyelid crease, rounded ears, small genitals
Thalassemias
- Hemoglobin is composed of alpha and beta protein subunits. Two genes of each are needed for proper hemoglobin production.
- Thalassemia is a missing or defective gene that results in anemia
- Symptoms: mild to severe anemia due to impaired erythrocyte production
- Treatment: maintain healthy lifestyle, blood transfusions
- At risk groups: Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern, Asian and African
Sickle Cell Disease
- Results from two copies of the sickle cell hemoglobin gene being present
- In homozygous individuals, low oxygen levels will cause the RBCs to deform “sickle”, which leads to circulation issues and lower oxygen levels
- Repeated crisis leads to loss of spleen and reduced lifespan (42 in men, 48 in women)
- Types of Crisis
1. Vaso-occlusive Crisis - caused by cells blocking blood flow leading to necrosis, pain and ischemia; treat with morphine
2. Splenic Sequestration Crisis - filtration function of the spleen is compromised, frequently resulting in splenectomy or death; treat by removing spleen leading to number of infections increasing
3. Aplastic Crisis - Parvovirus B19 shuts down RBC production for 2-3 days which can be fatal due to pre-existing anemia; treat with repeated blood transfusions
4. Hemolytic Crisis - rapid loss of RBCs, particularly in G6PD deficient people; treat with blood transfusions
Phenylketouria
- Caused by the absence of the PAH enzyme which is required to metabolize phenylalanine to tyrosine
- Excess phenylalanine leads to abnormal brain development, seizures, brain damage, and mental retardation
- Elevated levels might protect fetuses from Ochratoxin A induced abortions; Ocrhatoxin A is a toxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium fungi in damp environments
- Effects can be mitigated by a low phenylalanine diet
- Screening: Prick newborn on heel and take blood sample –> mass spec for phenylalanine levels
- Higher rates in Irish, West Scots, Slavs and Yemenite Jews
- Two Forms
1. PAH Enzyme Deficiency (98%) - Patient needs to severely restrict their intake, particularly in childhood
- Biopterin-Deficient PKU (2%)
- Life long supplementation with biopterin (cofactor) can be used and no dietary restrictions are necessary
Cystic Fibrosis
- Results from mutations in cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance receptors (CFTR). This gene is responsible for regulating the components of sweat, digestive juices and mucus.
- Those with CF produce overly thick and sticky mucus, resulting in continuous lung infections, as well as sinus infections, poor growth, diarrhea, and poor digestion
- Primary cause of death is respiratory failure, and you will die of this because medication is not forever
Treatment
-Medications to control infections and inflammation
+Mucolytics to loosen up lung mucus
+Bronchodilators to allow mucus to be coughed up
+Steroids to reduce damage due to chronic lung inflammation
+Antibiotics
-Nutrition
+Thicken mucus can prevent pancreatic excretion leading to poor digestion
+Diet should be high in fat, protein and calories due to poor absorption and energy demands
+Extra vitamins to compensate for poor fat uptake
-Double lung transplant
Muscular Dystrophy
- Cause by group of genetic mutations that cause progressive weakness and wasting of voluntary muscles
- Leads to muscle loss and fatty and connective tissue replacement
- Many causes, but Duchenne muscular dystrophy is X linked
Duchenne
- Leads to muscle degeneration –> loss of mobility, difficulty breathing –> death
- 1/3000 males
- Specific cause is dysfunctional dystrophin gene which codes for structural component of muscle tissue leading to fibrosis of muscle tissue
Neural Tube Disorders
-Patterning in an embryo is a complex process
-Neural tube should be formed at 3-4 weeks
-Problems can lead to
+Spina bifida –> spine stays open causing neonatal death or life-long paralysis
+Anencephaly –> brain does not form properly lading to miscarriage, still born or brief life
-Exposed spinal tissue in alpha feroprotein leaking into amniotic fluid. Alpha feroprotein also crosses into maternal circulation, so it can be screened for.
-Prevention
+Folic acid fortification
Eugenics
Applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population
BAD NEWS BEARS