American Board of Surgery Qualifying Exam (ABS QE) Practice Test

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Prepare for the American Board of Surgery Qualifying Exam with our interactive quizzes. Utilize detailed flashcards and multiple-choice questions to enhance your learning. Each question is complemented with hints and explanations to help you ace the exam!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

What is the main purpose of acute inflammatory mediators such as TNF-alpha and IL-1?

To promote healing and granulation
To recruit inflammatory cells
To stimulate collagen synthesis
To inhibit fibroblast activity

The correct answer is: To recruit inflammatory cells

The main purpose of acute inflammatory mediators like TNF-alpha and IL-1 is to recruit inflammatory cells to the site of injury or infection. These cytokines play a pivotal role in the body's immune response by signaling for immune cells, such as neutrophils and monocytes, to migrate to the affected tissues. This recruitment is crucial in forming a robust inflammatory response aimed at eliminating pathogens and initiating the healing process. By binding to specific receptors on the surface of endothelial cells and other immune cells, TNF-alpha and IL-1 increase the permeability of blood vessels, enabling leukocytes to exit the bloodstream and enter the tissue. This process not only enhances the inflammatory response but also allows for the subsequent initiation of healing mechanisms. Other options, such as promoting healing and granulation, stimulating collagen synthesis, or inhibiting fibroblast activity, reflect different aspects of healing and tissue repair rather than the immediate actions of these inflammatory mediators.