Theme 3: Inflammation, Infection and Immunology: Part 2 Flashcards
What is an abscess?
A collection of pus; a complication of acute inflammation
What two processes occur when neutrophil polymorphs infiltrate during AI?
- Margination - blood cells attach to endothelium
2. Diapetesis - cells squeeze through endothelial gap
What is phagocytosis?
- opsonisation of particles by IgG or C3
- engulfing
What can happen if abscesses are left untreated?
can cause uncontrolled infection around the body (septicaemia)
How do we manage abscesses?
- aim is to remove all of the infected material
- “incision and drainage”
- may pack with antiseptic soaked gauze to help granulate
- surgical excision
What does granulation tissue contain?
capillaries, oedema, white cells and fibroblasts
How do we heal wounds?
- angiogenesis occurs (VEGF is a protein that promotes the growth of new blood vessels)
- fibroblasts proliferate and secrete ECM and collagen
- fibroblast contraction shrinks the wound
What is an ulcer?
- It is a local defect of an organ or tissue that is produced by removing of inflammatory necrotic tissue
- loss of area of epidermis and dermis to produce a defect
What are the causes of ulcers?
- Vascular
- venous (70%)
- arterial (10%)
- mixed (10%) - Other (10%)
What are some rare causes of leg ulcers?
- peripheral neuropathy
- malignant
- inflammatorry e.g pyoderma gangrenosum
- vascular: vasculitis
- iatrogenic e.g drugs
- infection
- metabolic e.g diabetes
- traumatic e.g burns
What are the risk factors for venous leg ulcers?
- Valvular incompetence
- Previous damage to venous system e.g DVT, hypertension
- Obesity, immobility
What would you be looking for when taking a history of patient with suspected venous leg ulcer?
- varicose veins - inherited
- history of DVT, PE
- sitting or standing for long periods
- high blood pressure
- multiple pregnancies
- previous surgeries egg knee replacement
- obesity
- increasing age and immobility
What is the most common location of a venous leg ulcer?
medial gaiter area in lower leg
which are more painful - venous or arterial leg ulcers?
arterial
How do arterial ulcers develop?
- plaque builds up in arteries that carry blood to lower limbs
- overtime plaque hardens and narrows arteries
- limits the flow of oxygen-rich blood to legs
- associated with peripheral vascular disease
Risk factors of arterial ulcers?
- diabetes
- smoking
- high BP
- high blood lipids
- history of ischaemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease
- renal failure
- obesity
- RA
What would you be looking for when taking a history of patient with suspected arterial leg ulcer?
- intermittent claudication
- rest pain or paraesthesia
- pain at ulcer site
- other symptoms of vascular disease e.g angina
What are you looking for on examination of arterial leg ulcers/
- painful ulcer
- lower leg/foot
- loss of hair appendages
- dry skin
- cool peripheries
- pale, cyanotic or pre-gangrenous toes
What are neuropathic ulcers? What are the causes?
- due to distal polyneuropathy
- under metatarsal heads/heel
- painless but warm with pulses
- causes: diabetes, alcohol, B1/b12
What is pyoderma gangrenosum?
- inflammatory ulcer
- exact cause unknown
- associated with IBD, RA
- difficult to treat e.g prednisolone
What is healing by first intention?
- restoration of continuity occurs directly by fibrous adhesion, without formation of granulation tissue
- results in thin scar - no tissue loss
What is healing by second intention?
- wounds with tissue loss or with margins not apposed
- granulation islands (red)
- re-epithelialisation - epidermis grows back
How would an ulcer defect heal? (5 steps)
- Phagocytosis to remove cell debris
- Granulation tissue laid
- Organisation
- Early fibrous scar - epidermis starts to grow back
- Scar contraction
Which proteins mediate healing and repair?
various cytokines e.g PDGF, EGF etc
How do you treat venous ulcers?
- they require compression e.g using compression stockings/bandages provide up to 40mmHg pressure
- bandages used if exudative wounds to hold moisture in
What is ankle brachial pressure index?
ratio of the blood pressure at the ankle to the blood pressure in the upper arm
-assesses suitability to apply compression
What is pentoxifylline?
- licensed drug for venous leg ulcers and PAD
- can cause hypotension
What is analgesia?
inability to feel pain
in 1900, what were the two leading causes of deaths?
- influenza and pneumonia
2. tuberculosis
What are the 3 leading causes of death today?
- heart disease
- cancer
- stroke
What is the scientific classification of living organisms?
did king Phillip come over for good spaghetti
Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
Which gene is used for comparison and identification of bacterial species?
16S ribosomal RNA - because its in all bacteria and its highly conserved - there’s only small bits of variation
Which two features on bacteria are only found in gram-negative bacteria?
- fimbriae
- sex pilus
What is the function of the flagella and what are the 4 different types?
-responsible for locomotion (motility)
Number and location can vary:
-Monotrichous (one flagella)
-Lophotrichous (multiple on one pole)
-Amphitrichous (one coming from each pole)
-Peritrichous (many all over the bacterial surface)
What are pill / fimbriae?
Fimbriae are bristle like short fibres occurs on the surface of bacteria.
Pili are long hair like tubular microfibres like structures present on the surface of bacteria. Fimbriae are present on both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. Pili are present only on some Gram negative bacteria.
What is the function of pills/fimbriae?
- aid adhesion to host cells and colonisation -allow bacteria to stick to things which is important during infection
- can adhere to a specific substrate on cell surface
What is the capsule on bacteria?
polysaccharide material protecting bacteria from:
- phagocytosis/immune attack
- dessication (drying up)
- antibiotics
what is the difference between a capsule and a slime layer?
capsule - tightly adhered to cell
slime layer - loose adherence to cell
What are endospores?
metabolically inert forms of bacteria resistant to many forms of environmental stress e.g temperature
example: genus bacillus
What are bacterial cell walls made of?
peptidoglycan
What are the 4 types of cell walls of bacteria?
- gram positive e.g streptococcus, bacillus, clostridium
- gram negative e.g E.coli
- mycobacterial
- no peptidoglycan e.g chlamydia