Cerebrovascular disease Flashcards
(108 cards)
What are the three types of glial cells?
Astrocytes Oligodendrocytes Ependymal cells
What are the supporting structures of the CNS?
Connective tissue Meninges Blood vessels
What does damage to nerve cells and/or their processes lead to?
Rapid necrosis with sudden acute functional failure (as seen in stroke) Slow atrophy with gradually increasing dysfunction (as seen in age-related cerebral atrophy)
How are neurones organised?
- aggregates: nuclei, ganglia - columns/layers - assigned functional domains
What is the perikaryon and its variation in size?
The cell body of a neurone- can vary from 10 to 50um
When does acute neuronal injury occur?
Context of hypoxia/ischaemia
When does a red neurone become visible?
Typically 12-24 hours after an irreversible ‘insult’ to the cell
What does acute neuronal injury result in?
Neuronal cell death
What pattern is seen in acute neuronal injury?
- shrinking and angulation of nuclei - loss of the nucleolus - intensely red cytoplasms
What are the axonal reactions to injury/disease?
- increased protein synthesis -> cell body swelling, enlarges nucleolus -chromatolysis- margination and loss of nissl granules - degeneration of axon and myelin sheath distal to injury ‘‘wallerian degeneration’’
What is simple neuronal atrophy?
Chronic degeneration - shrunken, angulated and lost neurons, small dark nuclei, lipofuscin pigment, reactive gliosis
What are sub cellular alterations- inclusions?
Common in neurodegenerative conditions, e.g. neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimers disease Inclusions appear to accumulate with ageing Also get inclusion in viral inflectional affecting the brain
Describe the shape of astrocytes?
Star shaped with multipolar cytoplasmic processes
What do astrocytic processes do?
Envelop synaptic plates Wrap around the vessels and capillaries within the brain
What are the roles of astrocytes?
- Ionic, metabolic and nutritional homeostasis - work in conjunction with endothelial cells to maintain the BBB - the main cell involved in repair and scar formation given the lack of fibroblasts
What is the most important histopathological indicator of CNS injury regardless of cause?
Gliosis
Describe the process of gliosis?
Astrocyte hyperplasia and hypertrophy Nucleus enlarges, becomes vesicular and the nucleolus is prominent Cytoplasmic expansion with extension of ramifying processes
Describe old lesions which have undergone gliosis?
Nuclei become small and dark and lie in a dense net of processes (glial fibrils)
What is the role of oligodendrocytes?
Wrap around axons forming myelin sheath
How to oligodendrocytes react to injury?
-variable patterns of demyelination - variable degrees of demyelination - apoptosis
Oligodendrocytes are particularly sensitive to which type of damage?
Oxidative damage
Oligodendrocyte damage is a feature of which disorders?
Demyelinating disorders
Where are ependymal cells found?
Lining the ventricular system
How to ependymal cells react to injury?
Limited reaction to injury