Europäisches Journal für Experimentalbiologie Offener Zugang

Abstrakt

Pathological Inflammation and Various Mechanisms of Apoptosis

Ria Chhabra, Shyam Bass, Nitin Parashar

Inflammation is protective response of mammalian tissue when exposed to infective agents which includes bacteria, viruses, and fungi (fungal arthritis which is caused by invasion of fungus in the body and triggers inflammation), chemical toxins like reactive oxygen species (which affect cytochrome P4502E1 by the metabolism of chemical to neoantigens triggering immunological reactions), and physical agents like heat, cold or mechanical trauma. In response to etiologic agents (physical and chemical toxins), our immunity triggers inflammation, making it distinct from infection. Infection is an invasion of toxins and resultant ill effects whereas inflammation is the union of inflammatory response and healing as well.

Though this is a protective mechanism it can inflict harm to the body such as pyrexia, arthritis etc. Enumerated the famous 4 cardinal signs of inflammation so named-rubor (redness), tumor (swelling), calor (heat), dolor (pain) and later on “functio laesa” (loss of function) was added by Virchow. Apoptosis is programmed and coordinated cell death mediated by physiologic or pathologic conditions. The term “apoptosis” was discovered by Kerr Wyllie in 1972 after its discovery a century back by Carl vogt in 1842. Apoptosis can be mediated by physiologic processes include changes in body like involution of thymus in early age leading to cell death whereas pathologic processes include diseased state like in degenerative diseases of CNS (Alzehimer disease) accompanied with various biochemical changes followed by morphological changes like proteolysis of cytoskeletal proteins or fragmentation of chromatin.