Session 2 -> Acute inflammation Flashcards
What controls acute inflammation?
-Chemical mediators, mostly from plasma but some from cells
What is acute inflammation?
- The immediate, innate and stereotyped response of living tissue to any injury
- It is usually short in duration and involves both vascular and cellular reactions
List the main causes of acute inflammation
- Microbial infection
- Hypersensitivity immune reactions
- Physical agents (Heat/UV/Knife)
- Chemicals (drugs/bleach)
- Tissue necrosis
What are the main cardinal signs of acute inflammation?
- Rubor
- Calor
- Tumor
- Dolor
- Loss of function
How does loss of function act as a protective mechanism?
-Enforces rest and prevents further injury
Describe the changes in vascular flow which occurs with acute inflammation
-Transient vasoconstriction then local vasodilation, resulting in increased bloodflow and then vascular stasis
What is the consequence of local vasodilation in acute inflammation?
-Increased stasis results in an increased hydrostatic pressure which causes oedema
Apart from increased hydrostatic pressure, what other factor of acute inflammation contributes to oedema?
-There is increased vascular permeability which means plasma proteins leak into the interstitium, reducing colloid oncotic pressure-> less water is drawn back into the blood vessel causing oedema
Why does vascular stasis occur in acute inflammation?
- Decreased colloid oncotic pressure -> reduced fluid resorption
- Increased hydrostatic pressure -> increased fluid loss
- Blood becomes viscous and stasis occurs
What causes the vasodilation of arterioles in acute inflammation?
-Mast cells, basophils and platelets release prostaglandins, histamine and serotonin which cause vasodilation
What causes rubor/calor in acute inflammation?
-Vasodilation -> increased heat loss and increased bloodflow
Why is vasodilation beneficial in acute inflammation?
- Increased temperature
- Increased delivery of cells and chemical mediators
Why does oedema occur in acute inflammation?
- Arterial dilation -> increased HP
- Increased vascular permeability -> decreased oncotic pressure
- Increased net outflow of fluid = oedema
What two types of fluid cause oedema?
- Transudate
- Exudate
How does transudate differ from exudate?
- Transudate has a low protein content
- Exudate is protein rich
When does transudate commonly form?
-When there is increased hydrostatic pressure as in heart failure
When does exudate commonly form?
- Infection
- Inflammation
- Cancer
What type of exudate is commonly found with cancer?
-Haemorrhagic exudate
How can oedema be used as a diagnostic tool?
-The type of fluid within the oedema can provide information about the pathological cause
How is oedema resolved?
-Increased lymphatic drainage
What are the possible mechanisms of vascular leakage?
- Endothelial contraction
- Cytoskeleton reorganisation
- Leukocyte-dependant injury
- Direct injury
- Increased channels and transcytosis
What chemical mediators influence endothelial contraction?
- Histamines
- Leukotrienes
Why is the formation of fluid exudate beneficial in acute inflammation?
- Delivers nutrients, O2, cells and proteins such as Ab/fibrinogen to site of damage
- Dilutes toxins
- Increases lymphatic drainage
WHy is increased lymphatic drainage helpful in acute information?
-Stimulates an immune response by delivering microorganisms to the lymph nodes
Describe the process of neutrophil emigration into tissues
1) Vasodilation (vascular stasis occurs)
2) Gaps form in the endothelium (endothelial contraction)
3) Exudation (vessels become leaky)
4) Margination (stasis causes neutrophils to line up along edges)
5) Rolling
6) Adhesion
7) Emigration through basement membrane
Why is neutrophil emigration quite a destructive process?
- Enzymes are used to break down the basement membrane of vessels
- Neutrophils cause relaxation of inter-endothelial cell junctions
Name some chemical mediators involved in vasodilation
- Histamine
- Prostaglandins
- Complement factors
- Serotonin
Name some chemical mediators reaponsible for increased vascular permeability
- Histamines
- Prostaglandins
- Kinins
Name some chemical mediators responsible for emigration and chemotaxis?
- Leukotrienes
- Cytokines
Name some proteases which are secreted during acute inflammation
-Kinins/C3a/C5a/fibrinolytic system
What are prostaglandins/leukotrienes metabolites of?
-Arachodonic acid
What is chemotaxis?
-The movement of cells along concentration gradients of chemoattractants to the source of infection
How is chemotaxis initiated?
-Ligand-receptor binding of chemoattractant to chemoreceptor on a cell causes the rearrangement of cytoskeleton to produce pseudopods to facilitate movement
What are the three stages of phagocytosis?
- Contact
- Recognition
- Internalisation
How do neutrophils recognise cells for phagocytosis?
-Facilitated by opsonins-> Neutrophils have many receptors for Fc and C3a to allow detection of Ab-bound or complement-bound material
How do neutrophils digest the material they phagocytose?
-They fuse the phagosome with a lysosome, producing a secondary lysosome which destroy contents by digestion with enzymes
What are the killing mechanisms of neutrophils?
- O2-dependant
- O2-independant
What happens in O2-dependant killing in neutrophils?
-The neutrophils use superoxide/hydrogen peroxide to kill micro-organisms