Life Sciences IV

Question Bank
Part 2
1. Bone marrow transplantation in immunocompromised patients presents which major problem

a. potentially lethal graft-versus-host disease

b. high risk of T cell leukemia
c inability to use a live donor
d. delayed hypersensitivity

2. Defects in neutrophil NADPH oxidase system produce

a. Chronic granulomatous disease
b. Leukocyte adhesion deficiency
c. Hashimoto's disease
d. Streptococcal infection

3. T-cell-mediated immune responses can result in

a. formation of granulomas
b. induration at the reaction site
c. rejection of a kidney transplant
d. all of the above

4. Circulating immune complexes are an etiologic factor in the following diseases:

a. Myastenia gravis
b. farmer’s lung
c. Tuberculosis
d. Goodpasture’s syndrome

5. A transplant of tissue between individuals of the same species, but with different genetic
background is called a(n):

a. autograft
b. isograft
c. allograft
d. xenograft

6. The human immunodeficiency virus primarily infects:

a. plasma cells
b. helper cells
c. killer cells
d. epithelial cells lining the genitourinary tract

7. Tumor antigens have been shown to cross-react immunologically in cases of 

a. tumors induced by chemical carcinogens
b. tumors induced by RNA viruses.
c. tumors induced by irradiation with ultraviolet light
d. tumors induced by the same chemical carcinogen on two separate sites on the same individuals

8. Rejection of a tumor may involve which of the following? 

a. T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity
b. ADCC
c. complement-dependent cytotoxicity
d. All answer are correct

9. An antigen found in relatively high concentration in the plasma of normal fetuses and a
high proportion of patients with progressive carcinoma of the colon is
a. viral antigen.
b. carcinoembryonic antigen.
c. IgG
d. bacterial antigen

10. Cancer cells often have reduced amounts of cell surface proteins, including class I MHC
antigens. Which of the following cells of the immune system can exploit this property to kill
cancer cells?
a. Cytotoxic T-cells
b. Macrophages
c. Neutrophils
d. B-cells

11. A 35-year-old man has been diagnosed with end-stage renal disease. His identical twin
brother has the same HLA alleles at all loci, and volunteers to donate a kidney to his
brother. Which of the following terms correctly describes the proposed organ transplant?
a. Allograft
b. Autograft
c. Heterograft
d. Syngeneic graft

12. Chemically induced tumors have tumor-associated transplantation antigens that

a. are always the same for a given carcinogen
b. are different for two tumors of different histologic type even if induced by the same
carcinogen
c. are very strong antigens
d. do not induce an immune response

13. In what manner does a type III hypersensitivity reaction differ from a type II
hypersensitivity reaction?
a. Type III is an immediate hypersensitivity, while type II is a delayed hypersensitivity reaction
b. Type III hypersensitivities involve IgD, while type II hypersensitivities involve IgG and IgM.
c. Type III hypersensitivities are B-cell mediated, while type II hypersensitivities are T-cell
mediated.
d. The antigens involved in a type III reaction are not bound to a cell's surface, while those
involved in a type II reaction are bound to the surface

14. Which of the following is not an autoimmune disease?

a. SLE
b. Type I diabetes
c. Serum sickness
d. Rheumatoid arthritis

15. Which of the categories of hypersensitivities involves an IgG antibodies production

a. Type I
b. Type II
c. Type IV
d. Type II and III

16. The maternal antibodies that cross the placenta and lead to the development of
erythroblastosis fetalis are of what class
a. IgM
b. IgA
c. IgD
d. IgG

17. Immune complexes consist of

a. antibody plus complement
b. basophil plus complement
c. antigen plus antibody
d. antigen plus complement

18. Reaction to poison ivy or poison oak is

a. an IgM-mediated response
b. an IgE-mediated response
c. a cell-mediated response
d. an Arthus reaction.

19. When immune complexes from the serum are deposited on glomerular basement
membrane, damage to the membrane is caused mainly by
a. gamma interferon.
b. phagocytosis.
c. cytotoxic T cells.
d. enzymes released by polymorphonuclear cells.

20. Cytotoxic T cells induced by infection with virus A will kill target cells
a. from the same host infected with any virus.
b. infected by virus A and identical at class I MHC loci of the cytotoxic T cells.
c. infected by virus A and identical at class II MHC loci of the cytotoxic T cells.
d. infected with a different virus and identical at class I MHC loci of the cytotoxic cells

21. You have a patient who makes autoantibodies against his own red blood cells, leading to
hemolysis. Which one of the following mechanisms is MOST likely to explain the hemolysis
a. Perforins from cytotoxic T cells lyse the red cells
b. Neutrophils release proteases that lyse the red cells
c. Interleukin-2 binds to its receptor on the red cells, which results in lysis of the red cells.
d. Complement is activated, and membrane attack complexes lyse the red cells.

22. Which of the following represents an important anatomic barrier to infection by

microorganisms
a. lymphocytes
b. interferons
c. mucous membranes
d. kinin system

23. A positive tuberculin skin test is an example of what type of hypersensitivity reaction?
a. Type I
b. Type II
c. Type IV
d. Type II and III

24. Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. The ability of

this organism to cause disease is related to it’s ability to infect, persist in, and replicate
within macrophages. The leprom in skin test is used to determine what type of leprosy a
person has. In this test, inactivated Mycobacterium leprae organisms are injected just
beneath the skin. At the site of injection, a person with a positive test will develop an area
of induration with erythema peaking around 48 hours after the injection. If this test
measures a hypersensitivity reaction against the organism, what type of hypersensitivity
reaction is it intended to detect?
a. Type I
b. Type II
c. Type IV
d. Type II and III

25. Type IV hypersensitivity responses

a. are mediated through antibody-antigen complexes
b. typically occur immediatly
c. occur in contact dermatitis
d. occur in hay fever

26. Type III hypersensitivity responses

a. are mediated through antibody-antigen complexes
b. typically occur in 15 minutes
c. occur in contact dermatitis
d. are Ig-E mediated

27. Type III hypersensitivity is triggered by:

a. Mast cells and IgE
b. K cells and IgG
c. Deposition of antigen-antibody complex
d. Th cells

28. Most autoimmune diseases are caused by a 

A. Simultaneously impact of genetic and environmental events
b. immunodeficiency
c. complement deficiency
d. neutrophils activation

29. Identifying an autoimmune disease in humans is often accomplished by 

a. finding an antibody against self-components
b. passively transferring T cells to a healthy individual
c. immunosuppressive drugs
d. showing that macrophages are the cause of the tissue damage

30. The following is/are possible mechanism(s) for the recognition of self-components by
the immune system in autoimmune diseases
a. loss of suppressor cells
b. alteration of a self-antigen so it is recognized as foreign
c. infection with a microorganism that carries a cross-reactive antigen
d. All answer are true

31. The pathology in autoimmune diseases due to antibody may be a result of 
a. the formation of antigen —antibody complexes
b. antibody blocking a cell receptor
c. antibody-induced complement mediated lysis
d. All answer are true

32. Systemic lupus erythematosus 

a. is due to a mutation in double-stranded DNA
b. is a classic example of a T-cell-mediated autoimmune disease
c. results from antibodies specific to thyroid
d. has multiple symptoms and affects many organs

33. Diseases in which TH cells and cytotoxic CD8+ T cells probably play major roles in their
pathology include all of the following except 
a. Hashimoto's thyroiditis
b. multiple sclerosis
c. insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus
d. myasthenia gravis

34. A patient is found to have a form of diabetes in which his immune system is destroying
his pancreatic islet cells. Which is the most likely explanation for this disease state? 
a. The patient has a fever
b. In the islets of the pancreas, b cells have upregulated MHC class II and Fas molecules,
making them susceptible to cell death by immune cells
c. CD4+ T cells are being destroyed by pancreatic enzymes
c. Immune complex formation and complement are the main contributors to insulitis

35. Hashimoto's thyroiditis 

a. is due primarily anti-thyreoglobulin antibodies
b. can be transmitted by kisses
c. is an autoimmune disease which affects males and females equally
d. is characterized by immune complex deposition in the thyroid

36. Acquired immunodeficiency later in life is

a. X-linked agammaglobulinemia
b. Selective IgG deficiency
c. Hyper-IgM syndrome
d. HIV

37. Low IgG levels, high IgM concentrations 

a. Transient hypogammaglobulinemia
b. Ataxia-telangiectasia
c. Common variable immunodeficiency
d. Hyper-IgM syndrome

38. Severe combined immunodeficiency is a:

a. Occurs when a person is exposed to too much sunlight
b. Mainly occurs in people who eat too much pizza, resulting in diabetes
c. A problem caused by a bacterium called Pseudomonas
d. Genetic disease

39. Immunodeficiency diseases which would be cured by a successful hematopoietic stem

cell transplant include:
a. Bruton’s agammaglobulinemia
b. C3 deficiency
c. Chronic granulomatous disease
d. DiGeorge’s syndrome

40. What is HIV? 

a. virus
b. bacteria
c. fungi
d. protozoa

41. Tumor antigens have been shown to cross-react immunologically in cases of 
a. tumors induced by chemical carcinogens
b. tumors induced by RNA viruses.
c. tumors induced by irradiation with ultraviolet light
d. tumors induced by the same chemical carcinogen on two separate sites on the same individuals

42. Rejection of a tumor may involve which of the following? 

a. T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity
b. ADCC
c. complement-dependent cytotoxicity
d. All answer are correct
43. An 8-month-old baby has a history of repeated gram-positive bacterial infections. The
most probable cause for this condition is that 
a. the mother did not confer sufficient immunity on the baby in utero.
b. the baby suffers from erythroblastosis fetalis (hemolytic disease of the newborn)
c. the baby has a defect in the alternative complement pathway
d. the baby is allergic to the mother's milk.

44. Which of the following immune deficiency disorders is associated exclusively with an
abnormality of the humoral immune response? 
a. X-linked agammaglobulinemia (Bruton's agammaglobulinemia)
b. DiGeorge syndrome
c. Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
d. chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis

45. A 2-year-old child has had three episodes of pneumonia and two episodes of otitis
media. All the infections were demonstrated to be pneumococcal. Which of the following
disorders is most likely to be the cause? 
a. an isolated transient T-cell deficiency
b. a combined T- and B-cell deficiency
c. a B-cell deficiency
d. transient anemia

46. Immunodeficiency disease can result from 

a. a developmental defect of T lymphocytes.
b. a developmental defect of bone marrow stem cells.
c. a defect in phagocyte function.
d. All of the above

47. A 9-month-old baby was vaccinated against smallpox with attenuated smallpox virus.
He developed a progressive necrotic lesion of the skin, muscles, and subcutaneous tissue at
the site of inoculation. The vaccination reaction probably resulted from 
a. B-lymphocyte deficiency.
b. reaction to the adjuvant.
c. complement deficiency.
d. B- and T-lymphocyte deficiency

48. A healthy woman gave birth to a baby. The newborn infant was found to be HIV-
seropositive. This finding is most likely the result of 
a. the virus being transferred across the placenta to the baby
b. the baby is making anti-HIV antibodies
c. the baby's erythrocyte antigens cross-reacting with the virus
d. maternal HIV-specific IgG being transferred across the placenta to the baby.

49. An antigen found in relatively high concentration in the plasma of normal fetuses and a
high proportion of patients with progressive carcinoma of the colon is
a. viral antigen.
b. carcinoembryonic antigen.
c.IgG
d. bacterial antigen

50. Cancer cells often have reduced amounts of cell surface proteins, including class I MHC
antigens. Which of the following cells of the immune system can exploit this property to kill
cancer cells?
a. Cytotoxic T-cells
b. Macrophages
c. Neutrophils
d. B-cells