Pathology Flashcards
What are the main cells associated with acute and chronic inflammation?
Acute - Neutrophils
Chronic - Macrophages & lymphocytes
Are local and systemic signs more prominent in acute or chronic inflammation?
Acute
Is tissue injury and fibrosis usually milder in acute or chronic inflammation?
Acute
*Chronic can be progressive
What are the responses to injury resulting in acute inflammation?
Vascular and cellular changes
Which vessel dilates first in acute inflammation? What dilates after that? Which 2 mediators are involved in this?
Arterioles –> pre-capillary sphincter –> capillary beds
Histamine and NO.
What happens to the microvasculature during acute inflammation?
Becomes more permeable, allowing exudation to occur thus slowing blood flow –> increased viscosity –> stasis, engorgement and white cell margination/ pavementing (redistribution)
What are the 6 processes involved in cellular changes of acute inflammation?
Stasis White cell margination/ pavementing Rolling Adhesion Migration via diapedesis Chemotaxi
Histamine and thrombin released from inflammatory cells can activate endothelium, resulting in the expression of?
Selectin (adhesion molecules)
How strongly does selectin bind to WBCs? What movement does this result in?
Low/ weak affinity causing a rolling movement
What happens when WBCs encounter chemokines?
Changes conformation and expresses integrin which binds at high affinity to VCAM ad ICAM at endothelium
What causes endothelium to express ICAM and VCAM?
Cytokines (TNF, IL-1)
Where and how do WBCs migrate to the extravascular space? What is this process called?
At post-capillary venules (maximal retraction), WBCs migrate by squeezing though intercellular junction.
Transmigration/ extravasation.
Where and how do leukocytes migrate in the extravascular space?
What is this process called?
Front wheel motion towards stimulus where chemoattractants were produced.
Chemotaxi.
What causes swelling/ oedema?
Decreased vascular permeability causing loss of protein and oncotic pressure –> water leaves
What are the 4 causes of vascular leakiness
- Endothelial retraction from mediators (short-lived at post-capillary venule)
- Endothelial injury resulting in necrosis and detachment
- Transcytosis - increased fluid and protein transport
- Angiogenesis - via VEGF (initially leaky e.g. granulation tissue)
What are the 3 components of phagocytosis?
- Recognition and attachment via mannose receptors (microbes), scavenger receptors (OxLDL) and opsonins
- Engulfment via pseudopods and phagosome formation
- Killing and degradation in lysosome via ROS (NADPH oxidase), RNS (NO synthease) and lysosomal enzymes
Why can phagocyte engulfment cause bystander damage?
Due to granule release into extracellular space
What mediates pain felt in inflammation?
Prostaglandins and bradykinins
What are the 4 mediators for endothelial retraction?
Histamine, Bradykinin, Substance P, Leukotrienes
How long do neutrophils live after leaving the blood before undergoing apoptosis?
A few hours to a day (short-lived)
What are the 4 possible outcomes of acute inflammation?
- Resolution
- Suppuration
- Repair, organisation and fibrosis
- Chronic inflammation
**All 2-4 are not mutually exclusive
What do the outcomes of acute inflammation depend on?
- Site of injury (E.g. capacity of organ to repair)
- Type of injury (E.g. pathogenicity)
- Duration of injury
What the term for when there is complete restoration of tissue function to normal after removal of inflammatory components called?
How long do injuries usually last for this?
Resolution.
Short-lived injury with minimal tissue destruction.
An example of an injury that leads to resolution
Erosions/ abrasions (with intact basement membrane)
What kind of tissues does resolution occur in? (3)
- With capacity to repair (E.g. GI high turnover, Parenchymal cells)
- Good vascular supply for WBC access and rapid removal of injurious agents
- Some scaffold left
What kind of cells can be found in pus/ exudate? (5)
Living, dying, dead cells, neutrophils, bacteria
+ Inflammatory debris (Fibrin)
What is an empyema?
When local space is filled with pus and walled off by fibrous wall
What kind of bacteria causes liquefactive necrosis?
Pyogenic bacteria (Staphylococci)
Why is IV antibiotics not very effective to treat abscess? What should the treatment be then?
No blood vessel access.
Drain.
When does scarring and fibrosis occur? (3)
- Injury with substantial necrosis/ destruction
- Injury with a lot of fibrin exudate
- Poor vascular supply - difficult to remove debris
What is the term for when fibrosis develops in a tissue space occupied by inflammatory exudate?
Organisation
How does healing occur in scarring/ fibrosis?
Via connective tissue/ collagen replacement becoming a mass of fibrous tissue
What are the 3 outcomes of scar tissue formation?
Loss of function (e.g. muscle, no oil/ sweat secretion, no sensation)
Contracted/ taut
Patches up tissue
What kind of injury will favour scarring/ fibrosis?
When injury goes beyond basement membrane (thus no scaffold)
What is the replacement of lost tissue with fibrotic connective tissue and maturation of tissue stem cells?
Healing
What is process of granulation tissue formation?
Capillaries infiltration (thin-walled and leaky) –> myofibroblasts –> collagen deposition + smooth muscle cells
When a liver is scarred and fibrosed, what is this known as? What would the liver feel like?
Cirrhosis.
Hard.
What does cirrhosis cause?
Loss of liver function and reduced/ no blood supply to hepatocytes due to fibrous tissue
What are the 2 co-existing processes in chronic inflammation?
Inflammation and repair
Must acute inflammation precede a chronic inflammation?
Not necessarily
What are the 5 factors that favour chronic inflammation?
- Suppuration and scarring
- Prolonged exposure to injurious agent (endo- or exogenous)
- Infectious agent (Hep B, C)
- Persistent infection (Mycobacterium - granulomatous inflammation)
- Type of injury (Transplant rejection (Ab involvement), Hypersensivitity as in autoimmune, asthma)
What is the morphology that characterizes chronic inflammation?
Primarily lymphocytes THEN macrophages
How do macrophages sustain a chronic inflammatory response?
Present antigens and co-mediators that activate T cells –> recruit and activates more macrophages
What are granulomas? (3+1)
Aggregate of epithelioid histiocytes (Stationary phagocytes in connective tissue) which can fuse to form Langhans giant cell (multi-nucleated)
Central zone of necrosis
Collar of surrounding lymphocytes
**Older granulomas - rim of fibroblasts + connective tissue
Are granulomas and granulation tissue the same?
No
What colour are epithelioid histiocytes?
Pink due to abundant granular cytoplasm
When do granulomas appear? (3 examples)
What is healing usually accompanied by?
Containing an agent that is difficult to eradicate (FB, endo-, exogenous)
Extensive fibrosis
What does caseous necrosis + granulomas under ZN stain suggest?
TB
As the calcium pump fails in hypoxic injury, there will be increased intracellular calcium. What does this lead to? (5)
Release of: ATPase Phospholipase Protease Endonuclease Pro-death factors (due to mitochondrial permeability)
What is the window period where no macroscopic and microscopic changes are seen in an MI?
20min
**Only ECG changes
What happens to cells 30mins post-MI? (3)
Pyknosis (shrink), becomes red
Nucleus shrinks and darkens
Marginal contraction bands appear
What happens in the first 24h post-MI? (2)
Acute inflammation from complement cascade due to leakage of cell contents Vascular changes (Vasodilation, Extravasation of WBCs)
When is risk of cardiac rupture the greatest post-MI?
3-7 days
Abundant macrophages give off what appearance?
Yellow
Suppuration implies what about the injury?
Persistence of injury
When are macrophages replaced by fibroblasts post-MI?
After 2 weeks
After 6 weeks is it still possible to date when the MI has occured?
No, only scarring from collagen deposition by fibroblasts seen
What can occur if nerve bundles in the heart are damaged/ scarred?
Arrhythmia (Fibrillation)
What is the term for increase in cell number in response to external stimuli?
Hyperplasia
When does hyperplasia regress?
Upon withdrawal of stimulus
Is hyperplastic tissue at risk of cancer?
Yes, can start to grow in absence of stimuli
What are 3 examples of physiological causes of hyperplasia?
- Hormonal (breast tissue in puberty)
- Pregnancy (endometrial lining)
- Compensatory (after loss of bone marrow/ tissue tissue)
What are 2 examples of pathological causes of hyperplasia?
- Hormonal (Excess oestrogen causing endometrial hyperplasia and abnormal menstrual bleeding; excess andogens causing prostatic hyperplasia)
- Infection (LNs; and Skin warts and mucosal lesiosn due to HPV)
What is the term used to describe an increase in cell size in response to a stimulus?
Hypertrophy
Is hypertrophy reversible?
Yes, upon withdrawal of stimulus
What kind of cells do hypertrophy occur in?
Those with limited dividing capacity (Skeletal and cardiac muscle cells)
When does hypertrophy occur?
In response to mechanical stress
What does hypertrophy of myocytes result in?
Increases requirement of blood supply (mismatch)
What is the term used to describe shrinkage in cell size by loss of cell substance?
Atrophy
What are 2 examples of physiological atrophy?
- Uterus after parturition
2. Endometrium after loss of hormonal stimulation (menopause)
What are 7 examples of pathological atrophy?
- Remains of congenital structures
- Decreased workload
- Loss of nerve innervation –> loss of function
- Atherosclerosis and brain atrophy (decreased blood supply)
- Inadequate nutrition
- Senile atrophy/ ageing in cells with no replicative ability
- Pressure atrophy (normal tissues adjacent to tumours/ upstream to obstruction)
What are the 2 hormones that promote degradation and atrophy?
What is the hormone antagonistic to this?
Glucocorticoids and Thyroid hormones
Insulin (growth-promoting)
Reduced metabolism decreases synthesis of?
Protein
Which pathway does protein degradation undergo due to nutrition deficiency/ disuse?
Ubiquitin proteasome pathway (Autophagy)
What does activation of MAPK/ ERK pathway via intrinsic tyrosine kinase receptors result in? (4)
Protein synthesis
Cell growth
Cell proliferation
Decreased apoptosis
What is the outcome of the Wnt canonical pathway (GPCR)?
Increase transcription
Cyclin and CDKs.
Which controls which?
Cyclins control/ activates CDKs
Which cyclin activates which CDK in G1 and what is the downstream outcome?
Cyclin D activates CDK4.
Rb phosphorylated thus releasing E2F, allowing cell cycle to progress to S phase
What is the role of E2F and what inhibits it?
E2F promotes DNA replication (S phase)
Rb inhibits it by binding to it
What CDK is able to phosphorylate Rb other than CDK4?
CDK2 (activated by Cyclin E)
Which cyclin is involved in the S phase? What CDK does it activate?
Cyclin A activates CDK2 (also promotes DNA replication)
Where does the MAIN checkpoint of mitosis occur? By which protein?
END of G1.
By p53.
What is the role of p53?
Pauses cell cycle when mistake is found to attempt repair.
If repair fails, cell is signaled for apoptosis (intrinsic)
Which structure caused replicative senescence?
Telomeres
Where are telomeres found on a chromosome? Which is its role?
End of chromosomes (caps),
Protection and prevent ends from degradation and fusion
What is the sequence found in telomeres?
TTAGGG repeats
What is Hayflick limit?
50-70 divisions
**Dividing capacity in a normal cell
How are telomeres like in stem cells?
Can switch on and off
With every division, what happens to the telomere repeats?
Gets smaller
How much energy is required for necrosis to occur?
None
When is necrosis physiological?
Never
What happens to the nuclei and mitochondria in necrosis?
Mitochondria dilates Nuclei disappears (fragmented)
Loss of basophillic cytosol RNA in necrosis gives it a ___ picture
Eosinophillic (red)
What are the 3 types of necrosis?
Coagulative, Liquefactive, Caseous
What kind of necrosis is cheesy and what is this associated with?
Caseous necrosis.
TB.
What is the microscopic picture of caseous necrosis? (5)
Granulomatous inflammation with central zone of necrosis
Structureless/ Amorphous
No cellular outline
Eosinophilic and granular debris
What kind of necrosis does stroke cause?
Liquefactive
How does ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke appear on CT?
Ischaemic - dark region
Haemorrhagic - bright region
What are the features of liquefactive necrosis? (3)
Pus
Localised bacterial and fungal infections
Liquid viscous mass (no cell structure left)
What is the tissue architecture like in coagulative necrosis?
Preserved for days after death
Firm texture
How do dead cells look like in coagulative necrosis?
Cell outline preserved
Ghost outline before complete phagocytosis
Why is proteolysis not favoured in coagulative necrosis?
Microenvironment too toxic