Pathologic Consequences of Infection Flashcards
What are the 3 categories of pathogens?
- direct
- indirect
- immune mediated
Can viruses bud out in the absence of tissue damage?
Yes- in this case you would not see any signs and symptoms of infection
Where does the tetanus vaccine come from and how does it work?
tetanus vaccines are made from the inactivated toxins of the bacteria - the toxin is denatured so that it cannot bind to the cell’s receptor and cause a toxic response
- it still, however, has antagonist that evokes an immune response in the body– this causes immunity to the toxin
Why is heat not enough to stop the spread of food poisoning?
- not enough to stop the spread of food poisoning because intense heat is enough to kill the bacteria but not enough the denature the toxins
Exotoxins are secreted ____ that can be encoded on ____/____
Proteins
plasmids/phages
What is an example of a chemically inactivated toxin?
diphtheria
What is an example of an effective/highly conserved toxin?
- scarlet fever
What kind of cells do hemolysin affect?
- ## they affect both red blood cells, as well as numerous other cells
What are the two different mechanisms of lysis via hemolysin?
- enzymatic lysis an pore formation
How goes enzymatic lysis of hemolysins occur? What is an example?
- clostridium perfringenes is an example, and it occurs via phospholipase C, causing hydrolysis in the cell membrane
How does pore formation occur as an action of hemolysin?
- pore formation occurs primarily in Staph aureus and occurs via the alpha toxin
- there is an alpha subunit (active one) and a beta subunit (binding one)- the alpha subunit is the thing we use to protect ourselves from the toxin, while the beta subunit is the subunit that finds and binds to the cell, allowing the suability to go into the cell and cause the infection
How does the diphtheria toxin work?
- it blocks protein synthesis
What does the beta subunit decide?
- decides the specificity of binding, and decides what cell the toxin will bind to
What is the action of cholera in the body?
- cholera has an ab subunit and binds to epithelial cells in the GI tract
- increases production of cAMP in the GI tract- this results in a loss of salt
- more salt is secreted into the lumen and this results in diarrhea via osmosis - water chases the salt and host cells lose water inorder to maintain osmotic balance
What are 2 examples of toxins that interfere with nerve-muscle transmission
tetanus and botulinum toxin
Toxins that interfere with the nerve-muscle transmission are known as ____ toxins and the B subunit bids to the ganglioside receptors on____
AB toxins
nerve cells
How does the tetanus toxin work in the body?
- the B unit of the toxin binds to the nerve cell receptor, with the A subunit internalized (inhibits transmission of the NT at the synapse)
- X synaptic transmission and NT release
- continuous stimulation of motor neurons leads to a spastic paralysis
How does the botulinum toxin work in the body?
Botulinum works in the body via the intestine
- has peripheral nerve endings at the neuromuscular junction and cause Ach release that causes a flaccid paralysis
Botulinum and tetanus both work at the nervous system but have _______
opposite actions
Botulinum toxin is frequently used as what?
- used in cosmetic surgery, as botox, used to treat crossed eyes as well as overactive sweat glands
What is the host advantage as well as the parasite advantage of diarrhea?
- host: allows the host to get rid of the organism causing the intestinal infection
- bacteria: allows the parasite to spread to a new host
The immune response is very controlled with respect to ______, but is NOT very controlled with respect to what?
The immune system is very controlled at distinguishing self vs foreign
However, it is not very good at distinguishing the degree of immune response and over activation - this can cause host tissue damage