USMLE Step 1

Question of the Day!
A 29 year-old male has noticed increasing amounts of bloody diarrhea. He also notes mild abdominal pain and multiple sore joints. Radiologically after barium, the rectum and descending colon demonstrate lead pipe colon. What is likely to be associated with this man’s disease?

A) positive string sign
B) skip lesions
C) HLA A3
D) HLA B27
E) Low risk of cancer



Check back tomorrow to see if you got it right!

Yesterday's answer:
A) fibroblasts. Fibroblasts release interferon-beta and interleukin-6 in response to viral infection. IL-6 stimulates B cells to release interferon-alpha which also has antiviral activity. The increased expression of MHC-I antigens on infected cells surfaces helps the immune system recognize viral infected cells from healthy ones.