Acute inflammation mechanismsDownloads

A 24-year-old woman comes to the physician because of progressively worsening episodes of severe, crampy abdominal pain and nonbloody diarrhea for the past 3 years. Examination of the abdomen shows mild distension and generalized tenderness. There is a fistula draining stool in the perianal region. Immunohistochemistry shows dysfunction of the nucleotide oligomerization binding domain 2 (NOD2) protein. This dysfunction most likely causes overactivity of which of the following immunological proteins in this patient?

An 18-year-old woman presents to the emergency department with a complaint of severe abdominal pain for the past 6 hours. She is anorexic and nauseous and has vomited twice since last night. She also states that her pain initially began in the epigastric region, then migrated to the right iliac fossa. Her vital signs include a respiratory rate of 14/min, blood pressure of 130/90 mm Hg, pulse of 110/min, and temperature of 38.5°C (101.3°F). On abdominal examination, there is superficial tenderness in her right iliac fossa, rebound tenderness, rigidity, and abdominal guarding. A complete blood count shows neutrophilic leukocytosis and a shift to the left. Laparoscopic surgery is performed and the inflamed appendix, which is partly covered by a yellow exudate, is excised. Microscopic examination of the appendix demonstrates a neutrophil infiltrate of the mucosal and muscular layers with extension into the lumen. Which of the following chemical mediators is responsible for pain in this patient?