MoD Flashcards
What are the 4 types of hypoxia? Explain what causes them
Hypoxaemic - arterial content of O2 too low (e.g. high altitudes, decreased perfusion due to lung disease) Anaemic - Decreased ability of Hb to carry oxygen (e.g. anaemia, CO poisoning) Ischaemic - Interruption to blood supply (e.g. atheroma, heart failure) Histiocytic - Inability to utilise oxygen in cells due to disabled oxidative phosphorylation (e.g. cyanide poisoning)
What are the reversible changes due to hypoxia?
- Oxidative phosphorylation decreases due to low O2, low ATP
- Increased amount of anaerobic respiration, produces lactate, decreases pH
- Low ATP means Na accumulates in cell (Na+/K+-ATPase), so water drawn into cell by osmosis, cell swells
- Detatchment of ribosomes, as energy required to keep them attached
What are the structural changes seen in reversible hypoxic injury?
- Swelling
- Clumps of chromatic in nucleus
- Blebs
What are the irreversible changes due to hypoxia?
- Massive accumulation of cytosolic Ca2+ due to reversal of NCX
- Activates enzymes resulting in cell death
What are the stuctural changes seen in irreversible hypoxic cell injury?
- Lysosomes rupture
- Breakdown of ER
- Defects in the membrane
What is the difference between oncosis, necrosis and apoptosis?
Oncosis - Cell death with swelling, changes occur in cell prior to death. See pyknosis, karryohexis and karryolysis of nucleus.
Necrosis - morphological chnages that occur after a cell has been dead for some time (damage to see membranes, leaking of contents, inflammation)
Apoptosis - programmed cell death with shrinkage (no inflammation because there is no leaking of contents)
What is the difference between coagulative necrosis and liquefactive necrosis?
Coagulative = protein denaturation > release of enzymes (cell architecture preserved)
Liquefactive = enzyme release > protein denaturation (tissue is lysed)
What is caseous necrosis?
Structural debris causing cheese-like appearance surrounded by franulomatous inflammatory process
Linked with infection - especially TB, syphilis
What is fat necrosis?
Cell death in adipose tissue. Lipases cause the release of fatty acids, which bind calcium to form calcium soaps
What is gangrene and what is the difference between wet and dry gangrene?
Gangrene = grossly visible necrosis
Wet = liquefactive necrosis (tissue infected with anaeobic bacteria)
Dry = coagulative necrosis (e.g. umbilical cord)
What is an infarct and what is the difference between and red and white infarct?
Necrosis due to ischaemia
Red - occulsion of a blood vessel causing smaller blood vessels to haemorrhage into area (occurs in places with collateral supply)
White - occulsion of end arteries (e.g. kidney, spleen, heart)
What is ischaemia-reperfusion injury?
Following ischaemia, if blood flow is increased this will cause further damage due to mass production of free radicals.
Number of neutrophils also increase causing more inflammation and more injury
What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic initiation of apoptosis?
Intrinsic = DNA damages/growth factor withdrawal or hormone withdrawal, activates p53 making mitochondria more permable releasing cytochrome C. This forms apoptosome which activates more caspases (proteases that mediate apoptosis)
Extrinsic = External ligands (e.g. TRAIL, FAS) bind to ‘death receptors’ causing caspase activation
What is acute inflammation?
Response of living tissue to injury to limit tissue damage
Describe what happens in acute inflammation
- Transient vasoconstriction of arterioles
- Vasodilation to increase blood flow
- Histamine release causes leaking of protein due to increased permability of caprillaries = oedema = increases lymphatic drainage
- This causes slowing of circulation and stasis
- Infiltation of neutrophils
Explain recruitment of neutrophils in acute inflammation
- Stasis causes neutrophils to move to the periphery of blood vessels (loss of laminar flow) = margination
- Roll along endothelium and weakly attach
- Neutrophils then more firmly attach = adhesion
- Migrate to blood vessel wall
- Move by chemotaxis
What are the killing mechanisms of neutrophils?
- Oxygen-dependent - reactive oxygen species
- Oxygen-independent - lysozymes and hydrolyses
What us the acute phase response?
Decreased appetite, raised pulse rate, altered sleep pattern, changes in plasma concentration of acute phase proteins
What are the possible events after acute inflammation?
- Resolution
- Abscess (continued acute inflammation with chronic inflammation)
- Chronic inflammation and fibrous repair
- Death
Define chronic inflammation
Chronic response to injury with associated fibrosis
What is granulomatous inflammation?
Inflammation with granulomas (accumulation of epitheliod histiocytes and lymphocytes)
What are the consequences of chronic inflammation?
- Fibrosis/scarring
- Impaired function
- Atrophy
- Stimulation of immune response