MOD Flashcards
What are causes of cellular injury?
Hypoxia Toxins Immune response Free radicals Microorganisms Dietary insufficiency or excess Physical agent (heat, electricity, trauma etc.)
What are the types of cellular hypoxia?
What are possible causes of each?
Hypoxaemic - low arterial oxygen due to lung disease or reduced atmospheric concentration.
Anaemic - decreased ability of the blood to carry oxygen due to the anaemia or co poisoning
Ischaemic - interruption of blood supply to a region due to thrombus or shock
Histiocytic - inability of the cell to utilise oxygen due to poisoning such as cyanide, carbon dioxide or dinitrophenol
What reversible changes happen to a cell as it becomes hypoxic?Why?
Lack of oxidative phosphorylation
Fall in ATP
Loss of Na/K ATPase activity
Increased intracellular sodium and calcium and extra cellular potassium
Water follows osmotic gradient into cell causing blebbing of cytoplasm and swelling
Glycolysis increases to raise ATP resulting in lactic acid production lowering pH
This causes clumping of chromatin
Ribosomes detach decreasing protein synthesis
What are the irreversible changes of hypoxic cell injury including the DNA changes?
Cell death by swelling - oncosis High calcium levels causing inappropriate activation of proteins (e.g. Proteases) Pyknosis (chromatin shrinking) Karyohexis (nucleus fragmentation) Karyolysis (nucleus dissolution)
How can free radicles be created?
Radiation
Fenton reaction
Haber Weiss reaction
What are common mechanisms for cell damage other than hypoxia?
Membrane (including organelle) disruption
Nucleus
Proteins (enzymes and structural)
Mitochondria
What are the main mechanisms of free radical injury?
Lipid peroxidation - hydroxyl radical reacts with unsaturated hydrocarbon removing one hydrogen to create water. This radical lipid is then react with O2 creating an O2* side group. It can then react with a neighbouring chain creating a OOH side group and making the new chain a radical - this propagates on creating more radical chains.
DNA strand breaking and base alteration
Protein disulphide bridge formation by cysteine oxidation altering structure.
What is the mechanism of reperfusion injury?
Increase O2 for free radical production
Influx of inflammatory components such as neutrophils and complement
How do cells protect themselves from injury?
Heat shock proteins - mend or mark for degradation misfolded proteins e.g. Ubiquitin
ROS protection - SOD, catalase, glutathione, iron sequestration, antioxidants
Define necrosis
The morphological changes that occur after a cells has been dead for some time in a living organism.
What are the four main types of necrosis?
Coagulative - cell architecture preserved, proteins denatured
Liquifactive - cell degraded by own active enzymes
Caseous - tb - structureless debris form surrounded by granuloma
Fat - lipids released
What is gangrene? How can it be classified?
The clinical description of a mass of necrotic tissue
Dry - coagulative necrosis following arterial occlusion
Wet - liquifactive necrosis typically following infection
Gas - infection usually with Clostridium perfringens
What is infarction?
Necrosis resulting from ischaemia (thrombus, emboli, vessel twisting or external compression of vessel).
What are white and red infarcts?
White - occurs in solid organs on occlusion of an end artery - no haemorrhage can occur due to solid stroma.
Red - occurs in loose organs, on venous occlusion or where anastamoses or dual supply is present but insufficient to sustain the tissue. There can be haemorrhage into surrounding tissues.
How does potassium release cause damage to the heart?
danger around heart as it causes depolarisation towards threshold of myocytes raising the number of inactive vgNa channels slowing upstroke (and has the paradoxical effect of slowing conduction through HCN channels slowing heart rate)
What cell injury mechanisms can lead to hyperkalaemia around the heart?
Local - MI
Systemic - crush syndrome burns, tumour lysis sydrome
What toxins can be released from cells that die by oncosis?
Potassium
Enzymes (e.g CKMB, ALT)
Myoglobin
What is the main cause and effect of myoglobin release in cell injury?
Rhabdomyolysis - damage renal glomeruli causing acute kidney injury.
How does the process of apoptosis differ from oncosis?
Controlled Few cells Requires energy Membrane integrity maintained Ordered process
Give some examples of physiological apoptosis
Remodelling of an embryo
Distraction of a virus infected cell
Decreasing breast tissue after lactation
Give an example of pathological apoptosis
Parkinsons disease
Amylotrophic lateral sclerosis
Alzheimers
How is apoptosis initiated?
Intrinsic - DNA degradation or withdrawal of growth factors, increased mitochondrial permeability, release of cytochrome C, activation of capases
Extrinsic - binding of TRAIL to receptor, activates capases
How do cells degenerate in apoptosis?
Break into small membrane bound fragments called apoptotic bodies.
How are apoptotic bodies removed?
Phagocytosis by neighbouring cells or phagocytotic cells like macrophages.
What is the effector molecule of apoptosis?
Capases
What molecules accumulate in cells abnormally?
Lipids - fatty liver, xantholasma, athrosclerosis
Proteins - mallory hyaline in liver disease, misfolded proteins
Pigments - coal dust, tattooing ink, bilirubin, haemosiderin lipofusin
What are the two forms of calcification?
Malignant - raised serum calcium
Dystrophic - normal serum calcium
Why do cells age?
Telomeres shorten with every replication.
What is it termed when telomeres ‘run out’ for a cell?
Replicative senescence
What cells telomeres are immortal? Why?
Germ cells, some cancer cells
Telomerase enzyme
What enzymes are involved in the metabolism of alcohol?
Alcohol dehydroginase
Aldehyde dehydroginase
What is the intermediate and product in alcohol metabolism? What is created?
Acetylaldehyde
Acetic acid
Why are women more sensitive to alcohol?
Lower levels of alcohol dehydroginase
What are the effects of chronic alcohol intake?
Fatty liver from increased acetyl coA and NAPDH
What could occur in acute very excessive alcohol intake?
Acute alcoholic hepatitis
What is produced when normal paracetamol metabolism is saturated?
What effect does this have?
NAPQI which is conjugated to glutathione
NAPQI is directly toxic binding to sulphydryl groups
Glutathione depletion leaves cells vulnerable to ROS
What patients are high risk in paracetamol overdoses?
Taken with alcohol Alcoholics Malnourished Hiv/aids Enzyme inducing drug patients
How does n-acetyl cystine work?
Prodrug precursor to l-cysteine which is precursor to glutathione
What occurs in an aspirin OD?
Stimulation of resp centre causing a resp alkalosis
Body compensates with a metabolic acidosis
Decreased platelet aggregation causes bleeding
What are the four signs of inflammation?
Calor
Rubor
Dolor
Tumor
What are the two phases of acute inflammation?
Vascular
Cellular
What occurs in the vascular phase of acute inflammation?
Brief vasoconstriction
Vasodilation increasing blood flow and capillary hydrostatic pressure
Increased permeability of blood vessels
Leakage of exudate
Raised cellular concentration of blood slowing it down
What triggers the vascular phase of acute inflammation?
Histamine released from mast cells, basophils and platelets due to:
Damage
C3a C5a and IL-1 from neutrophils and platelets
Immunologic reactions
What causes pain in vascular phase of acute inflammation?
Histamine
What chemical mediators cause increased vascular permeability in acute inflammation?
Histamine Il-2 TNF alpha Direct damage ROS Leukotrines
Differentiate transudate from exudate
Exudate contains proteins and is only formed when vessel permeability increases as well as hydrostatic and osmotic pressure
What proteins leave the vascular compartment during the vascular phase of acute inflammation? What effect does this have?
Fibrin - formation of fibropurilent exudate to contain inflammation
General proteins - increase oncotic pressure increasing exudate formation
What occurs in the cellular phase of acute inflammation?
Extravasation of neutrophils
Phagocytosis of debris and pathogens
How do neutrophils enter the tissue fluid?
Margination - slow blood leads to cells moving to vessel walls
Rolling - adhere to selectins and roll along wall
Adhesion - adhere tightly to adherins
Emigration - squeeze through gaps between cells digesting basement membrane as they do.
How are neutrophils attracted to areas of acute inflammation?
Chemotaxis along concentration gradients of C5a and bacterial peptides
How does acute inflammation aid us?
Swelling and pain - enforces rest
Exudation of fibrin - contains damage
Fluid exudation - dilutes toxins
Increased lymph drainage - removes pathogens
Exudation of immune cells - destroy pathogens and debris
Vasodilation - faster delivery of fluid and cells
What are local complications of acute inflammation?
Tube compression
Prolonged pain
Loss of function
What are systemic complications of acute inflammation?
Fever
Dehydration
Altered plasma proteins
Shock
What are outcomes of acute inflammation?
Resolution
Progression to chronic inflammation
Repeated acute inflammation
Death
What aids acute inflammation resolution?
Lymphatic drainage Short half life of mediators Proteolytic degradation Binding of inhibitors Dilution
How does inflammation cause fever?
ILs, prostaglandins and TNF alpha are pyrogens that effect the hypothalamus
Why does chronic inflammation occur?
Take over from acute inflammation if damage is too severe to be repaired within a few days
Alongside acute inflammation in repeat irritation
Without acute inflammation in some conditions eg. RA, TB, small foreign body
Hw does chronic inflammation differ from acute?
More variable course
Macrophages, lyphocytes, plasma cells and eosinophils
Giant cells
What is the function of macrophages in chronic inflammation?
Phagocytosis
Antigen presentation
Release of cytokines, complement and clotting factors
Hw are lymphocytes identified histologically, what is their role in chronic inflammation?
Near invisible plasma membrane and cytoplasm
Specific response to a particular antigen
How do plasma cells appear histologically?
Clock face nuclei (clumped peripheral chromatin)
White halo of golgi
How do eosinophils appear histologically?
Bilobed nuclei in red staining cytoplasm (sunburnt face with sunglasses)
What are the types of giant cells?
Langerhans - TB - ordered crescent of nuclei peripherally
Foreign body type - FB! - disordered nuclei, evidence of debris
Toutons - fat - ordered crescent of nuclei with foamy appearance outside of cell
What causes giant cell formation?
Frustrated macrophages unable to phagocytose pathogen / debris joins with others.
How does chronic inflammation cause fibrosis? In what conditions does this occur?
Mediator production by macrophages cause fibroblast recruitment resulting in collagen production. This causes fibrosis.
This impairs function.
Found in cirrhosis, repeated choleocystitis, fibrotic lung disease
When does chronic inflammation result in up-regulation of function?
Graves disease
What is a granuloma?
A focal discrete collection of immobile macrophages (epitheloid macrophages) surrounded by lymphocytes.
What causes granuloma formation?
Persistent low grade irritation that cant be removed - e.g TB or idiopathic like wegners granulomatoisis and chrones disease
What are the different classifications of stem cells
Unipotent
Multipotent
Pluripotent
Totipotent
How can cell division be classified?
Labile - actively dividing, no entry to g0
Stable - divides when signalled but usually at rest
Permanent - unable to divide fixed in g0
What factors upregulate cell division? Give examples
Growth factors Pdgf Egf Gh Oestrogen
What factors downregulate cell division?
Adhesion molecules in neighbouring cells and basement membrane (contact inhibition)
When would a tissue repair by fibrous repair not regeneration?
Necrosis of permanent cells
Loss of collagen framework of necrosed labile or stable cells
What are the three stages of fibrous repair?
Cell migration
Angiogenesis
Extracellular matrix production