Cellular respones to stress and toxic insults: adaptation, injury and death (Kumar Ch. 2, trans 1-2) Flashcards
(118 cards)
What are the four aspects of a disease process that form the core of pathology?
- Cause (etiology)
- Biochemical and molecular mechanims of its development (pathogenesis)
- The structural alterations induced in the cells and organs of the body (morphologic changes)
- Functional consequences of these changes (clinical manifestations)
True or False
Virtually, all forms of disease start with molecular or structural alterations in cells
True
This refers to reversible functional and structural responses to changes in physiologic states and some pathologic stimuli
Adaptation
**Adaptations are reversible changes in the size, number, phenotype, metabolic activity, or functions of cells in response to changes in their environment
2 pathways of cell death
Necrosis and apoptosis
REMEMBER
Stresses of different types may induce changes in cells and tissues other than typical adaptations, cell injury, and death
Other processes that affect cells and tissues: intracellular accumulations, pathologic calcification, and cell aging
Refers to an increase in the size of cells, that results in an increase in the size of the affected organ
Hypertrophy
**The hypertrophied organ has no new cells, just larger cells
Increased functional demand or by stimulation by hormones and growth factors will lead to _____
physiologic hypertrophy
**The striated muscle cells in the heart and skeletal muscles have only a limited capacity for division, and respond to increased metabolic demands mainly by undergoing hypertrophy
REMEMBER
In molecular pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy:
There is an integrateed actions among
- mechanical sensors (triggered by increasing workload)
- growth factors (TGF-B, insulin-like growth factor 1, fibroblast growth factor)
- vasoactive agents (a-adrenergic agonists, endothelin-1 and angiotensin)
These signals originating in the cell membrane activate a complex web of signal transduction pathways
- Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway (postulated to be most important in physiologic, e.g., exercise-induced, hypertrophy)
- G-protein coupled receptors (induced by many growth factors and vasoactive agents, and thought to be more important in pathologic hypertrophy)
REMEMBER
Hypertrophy is also associated with a switch of contractile proteins from adult to fetal or neonatal forms
α isoform of myosin heavy chain is replaced by the β isoform, which has a slower, more energetically economical contraction.
REMEMBER
Cardiac hypertrophy is associated with increased atrial natriuretic factor gene expression.
Atrial natriuretic factor is a peptide hormone that causes salt secretion by the
kidney, decreases blood volume and pressure, and therefore serves to reduce hemodynamic load
Defined as an increase in the number of cells in an organ or tissue in response to a stimulus
Hyperplasia
**may occur together with hypertrophy in organs with cells capable of DIVIDING
REMEMBER
Examples of physiologic hyperplasia
1. proliferation of the glandular epithelium of the female breast at puberty and during pregnancy, usually accompanied by enlargement of glandular epithelial cells.
2. liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy
3. marrow hyperplasia in response to a deficiency of terminally differentiated blood cells
Physiologic hyperplasia due to the action of hormones or growth factors occurs in several circumstances: when there is a need to increase functional capacity of hormone sensitive organs; when there is need for compensatory increase after damage or resection
REMEMBER
Examples of pathologic hyperplasia
1. Endometrial hyperplasia
2. benign prostatic hyperplasia
Most forms of pathologic hyperplasia are caused by excessive or inappropriate actions of hormones or growth factors acting on target cells
REMEMBER
Although pathologic hyperplasias are abnormal, the process remains controlled and the hyperplasia regresses if the hormonal stimulation is eliminated
Pathologic hyperplasia is different from cancer, in that the growth control mechanisms in cancer become deregulated or ineffective because of genetic aberrations
**Thus, while hyperplasia is distinct from cancer, pathologic hyperplasia constitutes a fertile soil in which cancerous proliferations may eventually arise
Defined as a reduction in the size of an organ or tissue due to a decrease in cell size and number
Atrophy
**The degradation of cellular proteins occurs mainly by the ubiquitin proteasome pathway
It is a reversible change in which one differentiated cell type (epithelial or mesenchymal) is replaced by another cell type
Metaplasia
**It often represents an adaptive response in which one cell type that is sensitive to a particular stress is replaced by another cell type that is better able to withstand the adverse environment
REMEMBER
The most common epithelial metaplasia is columnar to squamous….
…as occurs in the respiratory tract in response to chronic irritation, stones in the excretory ducts of the salivary glands, pancreas, or bile ducts, which are normally lined by secretory columnar epithelium, may also lead to squamous metaplasia by stratified squamous epithelium
Barrett esophagus displays what type of metaplasia?
Metaplasia from squamous to columnar type
**the esophageal squamous epithelium is replaced by intestinal-like columnar cells under the influence of refluxed gastric acid
Type of metaplasia characterized by the formation of cartilage, bone or adipose tissue in tissues that normally do not contain these elements.
Connective tissue metaplasia
**myositis ossifcans - bone formation in muscle that occasionally occurs after intramuscular hemorrhage.
REMEMBER
Metaplasia does not result from a change in the phenotype of an already differentiated cell type…
…it is the result of a reprogramming of stem cells that are known to exist in normal tissues, or of undifferentiated mesenchymal cells present in connective tissue
What are the hallmarks of reversible injury?
- reduced oxidative phosphorylation with resultant depletion of energy stores in the form of adenosine triphosphate
- cellular swelling caused by changes in ion concentrations and water influx.
It is considered an “accidental” and unregulated form of cell death resulting from damage to cell membranes and loss of ion homeostasis
Necrosis
- *When damage to membranes is severe, lysosomal enzymes enter the cytoplasm and digest the cell
- *Cellular contents also leak through the damaged plasma membrane into the extracellular space, where they elicit a host reaction (inflammation)
REMEMBER
Necrosis = pathway of cell death resulting from ischemia, toxins, various infections and trauma
Apoptosis = pathway of cell death resulting from damaged DNA or proteins
Form of cell death that is characterized by NUCLEAR DISSOLUTION, FRAGMENTATION of the cell without complete loss of membrane integrity, and rapid removal of the cellular debris
Apoptosis
**Because cellular contents do not leak out, unlike in necrosis, there is no inflammatory reaction