Inflammation and Immune Pathology USMLE Step 1 Practice Question
A 7-year-old boy develops acute swelling of his face and extremities after eating shellfish. Within 15 minutes, he becomes short of breath with audible wheezing. His tongue is swollen and he has difficulty swallowing. Which of the following mediators is primarily responsible for the acute airway obstruction in this patient?
Answer choices
- ALeukotriene C4 produced by eosinophils
- BHistamine released from mast cell degranulationCorrect answer
- CTumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) from macrophage activation
- DComplement component C5a generated by immune complex formation
- EBradykinin released from activated Hageman factor
- FSubstance P released from neuropeptide-containing nerve fibers
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