PATHOLOGY
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
Students are required to possess the basic principles of the following fields: cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, microbiology, physiology, immunology. Given the relevance of the immunology knowledge necessary to the course of pathology, 2 lessons will be dedicated to a detailed refresh on the innate and adaptive immune systems.
The student must pass an oral exam that concerns questions related to the theoretical aspects of general pathology; knowledge acquisition and understanding (40%) and application of the knowledge acquired (30%), making judgments (10%), communication skills (10%) and learning ability (10%).
Precision in terminology and content correctness are required to pass the exam.
Ability to integrate the different knowledge acquired and contents will be considered to get higher marks (29-30 and honors).
The course introduces the students to the understanding of the mechanisms and phenomena underlying human pathologies. In particular, the course will allow the students to know the cellular and molecular alterations of the state of health; to know the main exogenous and endogenous causes of disease; to know the fundamental mechanisms of disease and the biological mechanisms of defense, adaptation to damage, regeneration, and repair. At the end of the course the student must understand how:
i) the etiological agents of disease, whether of an exogenous or endogenous nature, are translated into pathological events through complex cellular and molecular mechanisms.
ii) these mechanisms determine the organism's response to damage: adaptation, cell death.
iii) the state of disease results from the interaction of the causes with the body's cellular and molecular regulatory mechanisms.
iv) the triggering of the pathophysiological regulatory circuits generating/contributing the general pathology.
1) Basic concepts in pathology: etiology, pathogenesis, clinical significance. General etiology of disease; inherited versus acquired disorders. Definition and classification of cell injuries. Cellular responses to stress and noxious stimuli. The body’s response to lethal and sub-lethal injury. Homeostasis and adaptive response to injury.
2) Cellular responses to stress and toxic insults: adaptations by cellular growth and differentiation. Hypertrophy, hyperplasia, atrophy, metaplasia. Cell Injury and Cell Death. Causes of Cell Injury, Morphologic Alterations in Cell Injury, Reversible injury. Mechanism of cell injury. Selected Examples of Cell Injury and Necrosis. Ischemic and Hypoxic Injury, Chemical (Toxic) Injury. Necrosis. Apoptosis. Autophagy. Cellular aging and senescence
3) Intracellular accumulations: lipids, proteins, hyaline change, glycogen, pigments. Pathological calcifications: dystrophic and metastatic calcifications
4) Immunology. Innate immunity (physical and chemical barriers, monocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, natural killer cells, innate lymphoid cells/ILCs). Adaptive immunity (refresh on MHC-I and MHC-II, B cells and B cell subsets, T cells and T cell subsets).
5) Acute and chronic inflammation. acute Inflammation, mediators of inflammation, outcome of acute inflammation, morphologic patterns of acute inflammation. Chronic inflammation, systemic effects of inflammation, consequences of defective or excessive inflammation.
6) Tissue renewal, regeneration, and repair. control of normal cell proliferation and tissue growth, cell cycle. Mechanisms of tissue and organ regeneration, extracellular matrix and cell-matrix interactions, healing by repair, scar formation and fibrosis. Vasculogenesis and angiogenesis.
7) Hemodynamic disorders, thromboembolic disease, and shock. Edema, hyperemia and congestion, hemorrhage, homeostasis and thrombosis, embolism, infarction, shock.
8) Oncology. Classification for tumours. Oncogenes and tumour-suppressor genes. Cancer Related inflammation (CRI). Tumor microenvironment (TME) and tumor angiogenesis. Tumor immunology: immune cell polarization.
9) Flow cytometry in general pathology. Application of multicolor flow cytometry in general pathology.
10) Seminar will be organized by inviting experts in the field, to demonstrate how the knowledge acquired can be translated into the "real-life scenario".
Kumar, Abbas, Aster – “Robbins and Cotran – The Pathologic Basis of Disease” Elsevier.
The course objectives will be achieved through frontal lessons and seminars for a total of 48 hours. Given the extended area and complexity of the topics and the rapid evolution of modern pathology, the attendance of the lessons is highly recommended.
Dr. Bruno will receive students by phone call or web meeting, after making an appointment by e-mail.
e-mail: antonino.bruno@uninsubria.it