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Questions and Answers
Which type of substances can accumulate within cells?
What is a primary reason for abnormal intracellular accumulation?
Which condition can lead to fatty liver as an abnormal intracellular accumulation?
What can result from deficiencies in critical enzymes related to intracellular accumulations?
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What occurs when cells cannot degrade phagocytosed particles?
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What characterizes abnormal metabolism as a pathway of intracellular accumulation?
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What type of intracellular accumulation includes pigments?
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In which part of the cell can accumulations commonly occur?
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What is the gross morphology of a fatty liver typically observed as when severely affected?
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What are small, fatty, cytoplasmic droplets or large vacuoles indicative of in liver tissue?
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Which of the following conditions is associated with the accumulation of cholesterol and cholesteryl esters?
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What happens to the nucleus of liver cells when fat vacuoles are present?
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In which cellular component is cholesterol primarily used for synthesis?
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What method is used to distinguish lipid accumulation from water or glycogen in tissue?
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Which cells may become overloaded with lipids during pathologic processes?
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What visual characteristic do atherosclerotic plaques have due to lipid vacuoles?
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What does fatty change refer to?
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What is the most common cause of fatty liver?
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Which of the following conditions is NOT directly associated with fatty liver?
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Which mechanism does NOT contribute to the formation of fatty liver?
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Fatty change may lead to irreversible cell injury primarily due to which of the following reasons?
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Which nutrient's storage in the liver is associated with glycogen storage diseases?
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What is a typical outcome of chronic fatty change in the liver?
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What is NOT a consequence of impaired lipoprotein secretion from the liver?
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Study Notes
Intracellular Accumulations
- Cells may accumulate abnormal substances, which can be harmless or lead to varying degrees of injury.
- Substances can accumulate in the cytoplasm, within organelles (especially lysosomes), or in the nucleus.
- Substances can be synthesized by the affected cells or produced elsewhere.
Types of Intracellular Accumulations
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Normal cellular constituents:
- Lipids (e.g., triglycerides)
- Proteins
- Carbohydrates
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Abnormal substances:
- Exogenous (from outside the body)
- Endogenous (from inside the body)
-
Pigments:
- Exogenous
- Endogenous
Pathways of Abnormal Intracellular Accumulation
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Abnormal metabolism:
- Normal substance is produced at a normal or increased rate, but the metabolic rate is inadequate to remove it (e.g., fatty change in the liver).
-
Alterations in protein folding and transport:
- Normal or abnormal substance accumulates due to genetic or acquired defects in folding, packaging, transport, or secretion (e.g., α1-antitrypsin deficiency).
-
Deficiency of critical enzymes:
- Inherited enzyme defect leads to failure to degrade a metabolite, causing storage diseases.
-
Inability to degrade phagocytosed particles:
- Abnormal exogenous substances accumulate because the cell lacks the enzymes to degrade them or the ability to transport them to other sites (e.g., carbon or silica particles).
Specific Intracellular Accumulations
-
Hydropic change (Water accumulation):
- Often occurs in response to cell injury
-
Fatty change (Steatosis):
- Abnormal accumulation of triglycerides within parenchymal cells.
- Caused by an imbalance between uptake, utilization, and secretion of fat.
- Commonly seen in the liver, but can also occur in the heart, kidney, skeletal muscle, and other organs.
- Can be mild and reversible or severe and irreversible, leading to cell death.
- Common causes include:
- Alcohol consumption
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Toxins
-
Proteins:
- Abnormal protein accumulation is often irreversible.
-
Glycogen:
- Glycogen storage diseases are caused by enzyme deficiencies.
-
Complex carbohydrates:
- Mucopolysaccharidoses and other complex carbohydrate diseases.
-
Minerals:
- Iron as hemosiderin
- Carbon as anthracotic pigment
-
Pigments:
- Exogenous (e.g., carbon)
- Endogenous (e.g., melanin, lipofuscin)
-
Calcium:
- Can be deposited in tissues, causing calcification.
-
Amyloid:
- Abnormal protein deposits that can accumulate in various tissues.
Fatty Liver
- Most common cause: Alcohol abuse
-
Mechanisms:
- Excessive entry of free fatty acids into the liver
- Enhanced fatty acid synthesis
- Decreased catabolism of triglycerides
- Increased esterification of fatty acids to triglycerides
- Decreased apoprotein synthesis
- Impaired lipoprotein secretion from the liver
Morphology of Fatty Liver
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Grossly:
- Enlarged, yellow, and/or greasy (depending on severity)
-
Microscopically:
- Fat is seen as small droplets or large vacuoles in the cytoplasm.
- Vacuoles displace the nucleus to the periphery of the cell.
- Vacuoles appear clear with well-defined edges.
Cholesterol and Cholesterol Esters
-
Cholesterol:
- Used for cell membrane synthesis.
-
Accumulation:
- Can occur in macrophages (foam cells) and foreign body giant cells in various pathologic conditions.
- Accumulation is manifested as intracellular vacuoles.
-
Conditions associated with cholesterol and cholesterol ester accumulation:
- Atherosclerosis
- Acquired and hereditary hyperlipidemia
- Inflammation and necrosis
Atherosclerosis
-
Smooth muscle cells and macrophages:
- Filled with lipid vacuoles containing cholesterol and cholesteryl esters in the arterial walls.
-
Pathogenesis:
- Contribute to the development of atherosclerotic plaques.
- Give the plaques their characteristic yellow color.
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Description
Test your knowledge on intracellular accumulations in cells. This quiz covers various types of abnormalities, their origins, and implications on cell health and function. Dive into concepts involving normal constituents, abnormal substances, and metabolic pathways.
