General Etiology. Concepts of disease and pathological state. Etiology and pathogenesis. Intrinsic and extrinsic causes of disease.
Genetic and Molecular Pathology. Classification of the nuclear genome diseases: chromosomal, monogenic and complex traits (polygenic multifactorial). Imprinting, uniparental disomy and epigenetic effects. Mosaicism. Mitochondrial genome diseases. Alpha and beta thalassemia: genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity, genotype-phenotype correlations in thalassemia. Qualitative alterations in protein biosyntesis. Sickle-cell anaemia model and Hb Zurich. G6PD deficiency. Atherosclerosis as a model of a complex trait disease: pathogenesis, risk factors and prevention. Obesity: etiological classification and related diseases. Main forms of systemic arterial hypertension, risk factors and physiopathological mechanisms. Physiopathology of the lipoprotein metabolism, molecular pathology of the LDL receptor and of APO-B100. Monogenic and polygenic familial hypercholesterolemia. Physiopathology of the carbohydrate metabolism. Diabetes, features of the common polygenic and multifactorial forms. Monogenic forms of diabetes. Classification of insulin resistance due to insulin receptor defects. Classification of insulin receptor defects, codominance, dominant negative alleles and genotype-phenotype correlations in insulin resistance. Post-receptor defects. Pharmacology and genetics: altered sensitivity to drugs. Introduction to gene therapy and recombinant proteins.
Diseases due to physical and chemical agents. Radiations, electricity, magnetism. Heat: malignant hyperthermia, heatstroke, burns. Cold exposure and freezing. Diseases due to chemical causes.
Diseases due to biological agents. Diseases due to endotoxins and esotoxins. Infections due to pyogenic bacteria. Salmonellae typhi. Tuberculosis. Syphilis. Smallpox. Varicella-zoster virus. Infectious mononucleosis. HSV I and HSVII. Poliomyelitis. Viral hepatitis, acute and chronic. Prion diseases.
Inflammation. Causes of inflammation. Plasma- and tissue-derived mediators of inflammation. Cells in acute and chronic inflammation. Blood count and white blood cell count. Chemotaxis and phagocytosis. Differences between acute and chronic inflammations. Granulomatous and interstitial chronic inflammation. Outcome of inflammatory processes. Restoration processes and granulation tissue.
Physiopathology of thermoregulation and fever. Thermoregulation. Causes of fever. Pathological modifications of the body temperature. Morphology of the thermal curve.
Immunology. Antigens and antibodies. Organs and cells of the immune system. Subclasses of T- and B-lymphocytes. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The complement system. The immune response. The main antigen-antibody reactions. Immediate and delayed hypersensitivity diseases. Drug hypersensitivity: cross-reactions. Immune system deficiency.
Oncology. Hyperplasia, hypertrophy, metaplasia, dysplasia, anaplasia, neoplasia. Benign and malignant tumors. Histological classification and main morphological features of human benign and malignant tumors. Acute and chronic myeloid leukemia. Acute and chronic lymphoid leukemia. Lymphoma. Plasmacytoma. In situ carcinoma. Mechanisms and ways of metastasization. Chemical carcinogenesis. UV radiation carcinogenesis. Ionizing radiation carcinogenesis. Steps of carcinogenesis. Tumor initiation, promotion and progression. Initiating and promoting compounds, including drugs. Biological agents and cancer. Viral carcinogenesis. Tumorigenic DNA and RNA viruses. Acute and chronic transforming viruses. Viral oncogens. Oncogens, tumor suppressors and genes responsible for the maintenance of genome integrity and for DNA repair. Genetics of the familial and hereditary neoplasia: HNPCC, Xeroderma pigmentosum, ATM, BRCA, APC, MUTYH, retinoblastoma, Li-Fraumeni syndrome.
Physiopathology of blood. Blood count and white blood cell composition. Anaemia: general features, classification, hereditary and acquired causes.
