General pathology ยท Robbins 10th edition ยท Chapter 2
A free downloadable compilation of Robbins chapter 2 MCQs with answers, plus a one-page high-yield summary of cell injury, cell death and adaptations to revise before you start.
Download the MCQ PDF
Robbins chapter 2 MCQs with answers (PDF)Download PDF
High-yield summary
Cell death pathways
| Pathway | Trigger and mechanism | Key point |
|---|---|---|
| Necrosis | Severe injury; loss of membrane integrity and enzymatic digestion | Always pathological; provokes inflammation |
| Apoptosis | Caspases via intrinsic (mitochondrial, BCL2 family, cytochrome c) or extrinsic (Fas, TNF receptor) pathways | Membrane intact, no inflammation; apoptotic bodies |
| Necroptosis | RIPK1, RIPK3 and MLKL | Programmed but necrosis-like |
| Pyroptosis | Inflammasome, caspase 1, gasdermin pores, IL-1ฮฒ release | Inflammatory death in infection |
| Ferroptosis | Iron-dependent lipid peroxidation overwhelming GPX4 and glutathione | New in the 10th edition |
| Autophagy | Self-digestion of organelles via autophagosomes | Survival mechanism that can end in death |
Patterns of necrosis
| Pattern | Typical site |
|---|---|
| Coagulative | Infarcts of solid organs except brain |
| Liquefactive | Brain infarcts, abscesses |
| Caseous | Tuberculosis |
| Fat | Acute pancreatitis, breast trauma |
| Fibrinoid | Immune-mediated vasculitis, malignant hypertension |
| Gangrenous | Limbs and bowel (dry or wet) |
- Adaptations: hypertrophy, hyperplasia, atrophy and metaplasia (for example Barrett oesophagus).
- Reversible injury: cell swelling (hydropic change) and fatty change; mitochondrial and ER swelling, membrane blebs.
- Irreversible injury: mitochondrial dysfunction and membrane damage; pyknosis, karyorrhexis and karyolysis.
- Free radicals: superoxide, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radical; removed by superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase.
- Calcification: dystrophic (damaged tissue, normal calcium) versus metastatic (hypercalcaemia, normal tissue).
Practice questions
PRACTICE ยท SBA1 of 3
Which pattern of necrosis follows an infarct of the brain?
Show answer
Correct: B. Hypoxic death in the CNS produces liquefactive necrosis; infarcts in other solid organs are coagulative.
PRACTICE ยท SBA2 of 3
Which protein forms membrane pores in pyroptosis?
Show answer
Correct: B. Caspase 1 cleaves gasdermin D, which forms pores; MLKL forms pores in necroptosis.
PRACTICE ยท SBA3 of 3
Calcification in a damaged heart valve with normal serum calcium is:
Show answer
Correct: B. Dystrophic calcification occurs in damaged tissue with normal calcium levels.
CoursesAll Pathology MCQ coursesPrevious chapterRobbins chapter 1 MCQs PDFFree practiceGeneral pathology MCQs
Practice bank
High-Yield, Board-Style Image MCQs & Interactive Whole Slide Images
High-resolution virtual microscopy with questions aligned to ABP, FRCPath, NEET-SS, DM Hematopathology and MD/DNB.
Leave a Reply