Question
A 23 year old woman developed sore throat, fever and swollen glands in her neck. The...
A 23 year old woman developed sore throat, fever and swollen glands in her neck. The tonsils were enlarged with white spots on the surface. In about one week, the sore throat disappeared. Following an additional week, she noted her urine had become tea-colored. She presented to her physician and explained her condition for the past two weeks, the physician observed no abnormalities in the pharynx, but did find that she had an elevated blood pressure.
Examination of her urine revealed hematuria (increased blood in the urine) and substantial proteinuria. Evaluation of the patient's serum revealed high titers to streptococcal antigens anti-streptolysin O and anti-DNase B.
Explain the role of the immune system (both protective and destructive) in this case.
Explain the physiological immunopathology associated with the patient's condition.
Why is there blood and protein in the urine?
How would this disease affect complement levels in the patient's serum?
What is the patient's primary diagnosis based on the information provided?
Answers
Answer: The immune system is consist of a group of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to protect the body, out of which the most important cells involved are white blood cells, also called leukocytes. The role of immune system is to keep infectious microorganisms, such as certain bacteria, viruses, and fungi, out of the body and also destroy any infectious microorganisms that do invade the body. It acts as a protective mechanism of the body. There is blood and protein in the urine as due to proteinuria as normally kidney does not allow these things to filter in the urine but due to abnormal function of the kidney as well as increased amount of protein causes blood in the urine.