Pathophysiology

Essentially, chronic inflammation is caused by one of two means:

• a persistent inflammatory stimulus:
  • intracellular organisms e.g. tuberculosis
  • immune reactions against host tissue which is treated as being foreign e.g. rheumatoid arthritis
  • foreign substances which cannot be degraded e.g. asbestos
• ineffective inflammatory mechanisms:
  • absent or disordered inflammatory cells e.g. Chediak-Higashi syndrome
  • absent or disordered inflammatory mediators e.g. hypogammaglobulinaemia
  • global deficits e.g.:
    • poor nutrition
    • old age
    • immunocompromise e.g. AIDS