Cell Injury, Adaptation & Death Review Questions

Fill-In-The-Blank: these statements are conceptual; as such there may be other correct answers in addition to the ones provided.

     Cell damage due to oxidation results from the production of

     Longstanding inflammation due to or can lead to excess ROS production and tissue damage

     Solar (ultraviolet) radiation damages DNA by producing

     Ionizing radiation has the greatest effects on the bone marrow and GI system where cells are

     A hyperplastic thyroid is enlarged because of an increase in

     A hypertrophic heart is enlarged because of an increase in

     The transformation of mucosa from one tissue type to another is called

     Two examples of reversible injury are and

     The accumulation of fatty acids in cells is called

     Insufficient supply of oxygen to a tissue is called

     Inadequate blood supply is called

     Tissue death due to ischemia is called

     The dead tissue resulting from irreversible cell injury is called

     Gangrene is the combination of dead tissue and

     Cheese-like necrosis often found in the center of T.B. granulomas is called

     Programmed cell death is called

     In contrast to necrosis, apoptosis typically does not cause

Multiple Choice Questions:

     1) You see a 12 y.o. patient with a longstanding history of severe sunburns who also appears to have developed multiple skin cancers. You suspect this patient might suffer from a genetic abnormality that prevents them from repairing:
Chromosome Breaks
Thymine Dimers
Frameshift Mutations
DNA Strand Breaks
     
Explanation: UV radiation causes the formation of thymine dimers. The disease, called Xeroderma pigmentosum, occurs in patients that cannot excise these dimers.

     2) You see a patient with longstanding rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease. You know that this patient is at significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease (atherosclerosis) because they have systemically elevated levels of:
Catalase
Superoxide Dismutase
Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)
Glutathione
     
Explanation: Autoimmune diseases and chronic infections are sometimes associated with elevated ROS due to uncontrolled inflammation (including oxidative bursts). The other choices are antioxidants.

     3) You receive a pathology report on a stomach biopsy of a patient with chronic gastritis due to infection with helicobacter pylori. The biopsy shows chronic inflammation and intestinal-type (not gastric) epithelium. This finding is most likely:
Due to the biopsy mistakenly being taken from the intestine, not the stomach
Gastric atrophy due to the ongoing infection
Intestinal metaplasia due to the ongoing inflammation
Pre-cancerous dysplasia because of excess ROS production
     
Explanation: Metaplasia is a benign cellular adaptation where one cell type is replaced with another. It typically occurs in epithelia that is damaged due to inflammation. It is NOT pre-cancerous; although ROS damage can also result in the development of dysplasia and ultimately cancer.

     4) You see a patient with jaundice, due to liver dysfunction. A biopsy of the patient's liver shows numerous, scattered acidophil bodies (apoptotic liver cells). You suspect the patient's liver dysfunction may be due to:
viral hepatitis
an infarct of the liver
fatty liver disease (steatosis)
ischemic damage to the liver
     
Explanation: Apoptosis is programmed cell death and is typically caused by things like viral infection, hormone withdrawal, or irreparable DNA damage. Steatosis is reversible injury, and ischemia and infarction lead to necrosis not apoptosis.

     5) Which of the following would be an example of hyperplasia?
Enlargement of the rectus abdominis muscle after fitness training
Increase in the number of milk-producing lobular cells in the breast prior to lactation
Decreased mass of the kidney due to ischemia
     
Explanation: Hyperplasia refers to an increase in cell number. Enlargement of muscle involves an increase in cell size (hypertrophy).

     6) Which of the following leads to cell death via necrosis (rather than apoptosis)?
Withdrawal of growth factors / hormones
Ischemia leading to infarction
Cytotoxic T lymphocyte killing of a virally infected cells
     
Explanation: Necrosis is cell death due to an external injury such as hypoxia. Apoptosis is programmed cell death brought on by decreases in growth signals or by cytotoxic killing

     7) Which of the following are examples of reversible cell injury?
Steatosis
Necrosis
Apoptosis
Hydropic Change (Cell Swelling)
Both A and D
     
Explanation: Steatosis and hydropic change are reversible. Necrosis and apoptosis are, by definition, forms of irreversible cell death.

     8) The replacement of respiratory mucosa with squamous mucosa due to the toxic effects of cigarette smoke is called...
Dysplasia
Metaplasia
Atrophy
Necrosis
Apoptosis
     
Explanation: Metaplasia is the replacement of one cell type with another (more resistant) cell type.

     9) What might you see in a histologic section of gangrene?
Bacteria
Necrotic Tissue
Apoptotic Cells
Caseous Debris
Both A and B
     
Explanation: Gangrene is necrosis + bacteria

     10) What type of necrosis would you see in a tuberculosis granuloma?
Coagulative
Liquefactive
Gangrenous
Caseous
Both A and B
     
Explanation: Caseous or "cheese-like" necrosis is associated with granulomas due to T.B.

     11) The presence of thymine (pyrimidine) dimers in DNA suggest exposure to?
Reactive Oxygen Species
Antioxidants
Ionizing Radiation
Ultraviolet Radiation
     
Explanation: U.V. radiation cause the crosslinking of adjacent thymine nucleotides in DNA.

     12) What cell types are most affect by ionizing radiation?
Bone Marrow
Myocardium
Skeletal Muscle
Gastrointestinal Tract
Both A and D
     
Explanation: Ionizing radiation affects rapidly dividing cells including the bone marrow and GI system

     13) Steatosis of the liver is most associated with what these injuries?
Excess ethanol use
Excess tobacco use
Inflammation (hepatitis)
Acute bacterial infection
Hepatic necrosis
     
Explanation: Alcohol use and obesity are the most common causes of steatosis.


Email a question, comment, or concern: robert.camp@yale.edu