PATHOPHYSIOLOGY, A PRACTICAL
APPROACH BY LACHEL STORY ,NSG
3280( 300 Questions & Answers) All chapters
covered.
Section 1: Cellular Function & Injury
(Questions 1–25)
1. Question: What term describes the programmed, regulated cell death that does not elicit
a local inflammatory response?
o Answer: Apoptosis
2. Question: Define cellular atrophy.
o Answer: A decrease in the size of a cell resulting from decreased workload,
disuse, aging, ischemia, or nutrient deprivation.
3. Question: What is the primary functional consequence of mitochondrial injury during
cellular hypoxia?
o Answer: Inability to produce sufficient ATP, leading to failure of the sodium-
potassium pump and cellular swelling.
4. Question: What cellular adaptation involves the replacement of one mature cell type by
another mature cell type in response to chronic irritation or stress?
o Answer: Metaplasia
5. Question: Which intracellular electrolyte accumulation is typically the ultimate trigger
for irreversible cell injury and necrotic cell death?
o Answer: Calcium (C a2+¿¿ )
6. Question: What is dysplasia?
o Answer: Deranged cellular growth of a specific tissue that results in cells that
vary in size, shape, and organization; often considered a pre-neoplastic change.
7. Question: What cellular organelle contains digestive enzymes that degrade cellular
debris and foreign substances?
o Answer: Lysosome
8. Question: Describe the process of liquefactive necrosis.
o Answer: A process where dead cells are digested by their own hydrolases,
transforming the tissue into a liquid viscous mass (commonly seen in the brain
and abscesses).
9. Question: What is coagulative necrosis characterized by?
o Answer: Protein denaturation where the architectural outline of the dead cells is
preserved for some days (commonly seen in the heart, kidneys, and spleen).
10. Question: Define free radical.
, o Answer: An electrically uncharged atom or group of atoms having an unpaired
electron, making it highly unstable and reactive with cellular structures.
11. Question: What antioxidant enzymes protect cells against reactive oxygen species?
o Answer: Superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase.
12. Question: What is caseous necrosis?
o Answer: A unique form of cell death in which the tissue maintains a cheesy
appearance, characteristic of tuberculous pulmonary infection.
13. Question: What is gangrene?
o Answer: Clinical term referring to significant necrosis of tissue resulting from
severe hypoxic injury, classified as dry, wet, or gas.
14. Question: What genetic makeup defines Klinefelter syndrome?
o Answer: An extra X chromosome in males (47 , XXY ).
15. Question: What is the underlying chromosomal defect in Down syndrome?
o Answer: Trisomy 21 (an extra copy of chromosome 21).
16. Question: Define phenotype.
o Answer: The observable outward appearance of an individual, which is
determined by both genotype and environmental factors.
17. Question: What mode of inheritance characterizes cystic fibrosis?
o Answer: Autosomal recessive.
18. Question: What is an epigenetic modification?
o Answer: Changes in gene expression that do not involve alterations in the
underlying DNA sequence (e.g., DNA methylation and histone modification).
19. Question: Define hypertrophy.
o Answer: An increase in the size of cells resulting in an enlarged tissue or organ
mass, commonly seen in cardiac muscle under increased workload.
20. Question: What is hyperplasia?
o Answer: An increase in the number of cells in an organ or tissue resulting from
an increased rate of cellular division.
21. Question: What is ischemia?
o Answer: Inadequate blood supply to an organ or part of the body, especially the
heart muscles.
22. Question: What is reperfusion injury?
o Answer: Tissue damage caused when blood supply returns to tissue after a period
of ischemia or lack of oxygen, driven heavily by oxidative stress.
23. Question: What is intracellular accumulation of lipids called in the liver?
o Answer: Steatosis (fatty liver).
24. Question: What is dystrophic calcification?
o Answer: Deposition of calcium salts in injured, dying, or necrotic tissues with
normal serum calcium levels.
25. Question: What is metastatic calcification?
o Answer: The deposition of calcium salts in normal tissues due to hypercalcemia.
, Section 2: Immunity and Inflammation
(Questions 26–50)
26. Question: Which white blood cells are the primary cellular mediators of acute
inflammatory responses?
o Answer: Neutrophils
27. Question: What type of hypersensitivity reaction is mediated by IgE antibodies and
causes immediate allergic manifestations?
o Answer: Type I hypersensitivity
28. Question: Give an example of a Type II (cytotoxic) hypersensitivity reaction.
o Answer: Blood transfusion reactions or hemolytic disease of the newborn.
29. Question: What characterizes Type III hypersensitivity reactions?
o Answer: Immune complex deposition in blood vessels or tissues, triggering the
complement cascade and inflammation (e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus).
30. Question: What mediates Type IV (delayed-type) hypersensitivity?
o Answer: T-lymphocytes rather than antibodies (e.g., contact dermatitis or
tuberculin skin test).
31. Question: What are the cardinal signs of acute inflammation?
o Answer: Redness (erythema), heat, swelling (edema), pain, and loss of function.
32. Question: What is the primary function of mast cells in inflammation?
o Answer: Degranulation to release inflammatory mediators such as histamine and
leukotrienes.
33. Question: What role does histamine play in the vascular response?
o Answer: It causes rapid vasodilation and increased vascular permeability.
34. Question: What is the complement system?
o Answer: A cascade of plasma proteins that enhances (complements) the ability of
antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear microbes and damaged cells.
35. Question: Differentiate between active and passive immunity.
o Answer: Active immunity is acquired when the host produces antibodies in
response to antigen exposure (long-lasting); passive immunity involves the
transfer of preformed antibodies to the host (temporary).
36. Question: What is autoimmunity?
o Answer: A breakdown of immune tolerance whereby the body's immune system
reacts against self-antigens.
37. Question: What is alloimmunity?
o Answer: An immune response directed against beneficial foreign tissues from
another individual of the same species (e.g., organ transplants).
38. Question: What primary cells are targeted and destroyed by the Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)?
+¿ ¿
o Answer: CD 4 T-helper lymphocytes.
39. Question: What is the window period in HIV testing?
o Answer: The time between initial infection with HIV and the development of
detectable antibodies in the blood.
40. Question: What defines an opportunistic infection in AIDS patients?
APPROACH BY LACHEL STORY ,NSG
3280( 300 Questions & Answers) All chapters
covered.
Section 1: Cellular Function & Injury
(Questions 1–25)
1. Question: What term describes the programmed, regulated cell death that does not elicit
a local inflammatory response?
o Answer: Apoptosis
2. Question: Define cellular atrophy.
o Answer: A decrease in the size of a cell resulting from decreased workload,
disuse, aging, ischemia, or nutrient deprivation.
3. Question: What is the primary functional consequence of mitochondrial injury during
cellular hypoxia?
o Answer: Inability to produce sufficient ATP, leading to failure of the sodium-
potassium pump and cellular swelling.
4. Question: What cellular adaptation involves the replacement of one mature cell type by
another mature cell type in response to chronic irritation or stress?
o Answer: Metaplasia
5. Question: Which intracellular electrolyte accumulation is typically the ultimate trigger
for irreversible cell injury and necrotic cell death?
o Answer: Calcium (C a2+¿¿ )
6. Question: What is dysplasia?
o Answer: Deranged cellular growth of a specific tissue that results in cells that
vary in size, shape, and organization; often considered a pre-neoplastic change.
7. Question: What cellular organelle contains digestive enzymes that degrade cellular
debris and foreign substances?
o Answer: Lysosome
8. Question: Describe the process of liquefactive necrosis.
o Answer: A process where dead cells are digested by their own hydrolases,
transforming the tissue into a liquid viscous mass (commonly seen in the brain
and abscesses).
9. Question: What is coagulative necrosis characterized by?
o Answer: Protein denaturation where the architectural outline of the dead cells is
preserved for some days (commonly seen in the heart, kidneys, and spleen).
10. Question: Define free radical.
, o Answer: An electrically uncharged atom or group of atoms having an unpaired
electron, making it highly unstable and reactive with cellular structures.
11. Question: What antioxidant enzymes protect cells against reactive oxygen species?
o Answer: Superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase.
12. Question: What is caseous necrosis?
o Answer: A unique form of cell death in which the tissue maintains a cheesy
appearance, characteristic of tuberculous pulmonary infection.
13. Question: What is gangrene?
o Answer: Clinical term referring to significant necrosis of tissue resulting from
severe hypoxic injury, classified as dry, wet, or gas.
14. Question: What genetic makeup defines Klinefelter syndrome?
o Answer: An extra X chromosome in males (47 , XXY ).
15. Question: What is the underlying chromosomal defect in Down syndrome?
o Answer: Trisomy 21 (an extra copy of chromosome 21).
16. Question: Define phenotype.
o Answer: The observable outward appearance of an individual, which is
determined by both genotype and environmental factors.
17. Question: What mode of inheritance characterizes cystic fibrosis?
o Answer: Autosomal recessive.
18. Question: What is an epigenetic modification?
o Answer: Changes in gene expression that do not involve alterations in the
underlying DNA sequence (e.g., DNA methylation and histone modification).
19. Question: Define hypertrophy.
o Answer: An increase in the size of cells resulting in an enlarged tissue or organ
mass, commonly seen in cardiac muscle under increased workload.
20. Question: What is hyperplasia?
o Answer: An increase in the number of cells in an organ or tissue resulting from
an increased rate of cellular division.
21. Question: What is ischemia?
o Answer: Inadequate blood supply to an organ or part of the body, especially the
heart muscles.
22. Question: What is reperfusion injury?
o Answer: Tissue damage caused when blood supply returns to tissue after a period
of ischemia or lack of oxygen, driven heavily by oxidative stress.
23. Question: What is intracellular accumulation of lipids called in the liver?
o Answer: Steatosis (fatty liver).
24. Question: What is dystrophic calcification?
o Answer: Deposition of calcium salts in injured, dying, or necrotic tissues with
normal serum calcium levels.
25. Question: What is metastatic calcification?
o Answer: The deposition of calcium salts in normal tissues due to hypercalcemia.
, Section 2: Immunity and Inflammation
(Questions 26–50)
26. Question: Which white blood cells are the primary cellular mediators of acute
inflammatory responses?
o Answer: Neutrophils
27. Question: What type of hypersensitivity reaction is mediated by IgE antibodies and
causes immediate allergic manifestations?
o Answer: Type I hypersensitivity
28. Question: Give an example of a Type II (cytotoxic) hypersensitivity reaction.
o Answer: Blood transfusion reactions or hemolytic disease of the newborn.
29. Question: What characterizes Type III hypersensitivity reactions?
o Answer: Immune complex deposition in blood vessels or tissues, triggering the
complement cascade and inflammation (e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus).
30. Question: What mediates Type IV (delayed-type) hypersensitivity?
o Answer: T-lymphocytes rather than antibodies (e.g., contact dermatitis or
tuberculin skin test).
31. Question: What are the cardinal signs of acute inflammation?
o Answer: Redness (erythema), heat, swelling (edema), pain, and loss of function.
32. Question: What is the primary function of mast cells in inflammation?
o Answer: Degranulation to release inflammatory mediators such as histamine and
leukotrienes.
33. Question: What role does histamine play in the vascular response?
o Answer: It causes rapid vasodilation and increased vascular permeability.
34. Question: What is the complement system?
o Answer: A cascade of plasma proteins that enhances (complements) the ability of
antibodies and phagocytic cells to clear microbes and damaged cells.
35. Question: Differentiate between active and passive immunity.
o Answer: Active immunity is acquired when the host produces antibodies in
response to antigen exposure (long-lasting); passive immunity involves the
transfer of preformed antibodies to the host (temporary).
36. Question: What is autoimmunity?
o Answer: A breakdown of immune tolerance whereby the body's immune system
reacts against self-antigens.
37. Question: What is alloimmunity?
o Answer: An immune response directed against beneficial foreign tissues from
another individual of the same species (e.g., organ transplants).
38. Question: What primary cells are targeted and destroyed by the Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)?
+¿ ¿
o Answer: CD 4 T-helper lymphocytes.
39. Question: What is the window period in HIV testing?
o Answer: The time between initial infection with HIV and the development of
detectable antibodies in the blood.
40. Question: What defines an opportunistic infection in AIDS patients?
