Quiz Answers
- The most sensitive enzymatic indicator for liver damage from ethanol intake is:
- a. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT)
- b. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)
- c. Gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) ✅
- d. Alkaline phosphatase
- Isoenzyme assays are performed to improve:
- a. Precision
- b. Accuracy
- c. Sensitivity
- d. Specificity ✅
- The protein portion of an enzyme complex is called the:
- a. Apoenzyme ✅
- b. Coenzyme
- c. Holoenzyme
- d. Proenzyme
- Which of the following chemical determinations may be of help in establishing the presence of seminal fluid?
- a. Lactic dehydrogenase (LD)
- b. Isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICD)
- c. Acid phosphatase ✅
- d. Alkaline phosphatase
- Chylomicrons are present in which of the following dyslipidemias?
- a. Familial hypercholesterolemia
- b. Hypertriglyceridemia
- c. Deficiency in lipoprotein lipase activity ✅
- d. Familial hypoalphalipoprotein
- Turbidity in serum suggests elevation of:
- a. Cholesterol
- b. Total protein
- c. Chylomicrons ✅
- d. Albumin
- TSH is produced by the:
- a. Hypothalamus
- b. Pituitary gland ✅
- c. Adrenal cortex
- d. Thyroid
- The majority of thyroxine (T4) is converted into the more biologically active hormone:
- a. Thyroglobulin
- b. Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
- c. Triiodothyronine ✅
- d. Thyrotropin-releasing hormone
- The screening test for congenital hypothyroidism is based upon:
- a. TSH level in the newborn
- b. Thyroid-binding globulin level in the newborn
- c. Iodine level in the newborn
- d. Free thyroxine (T4) level in the newborn ✅
- Which of the following is secreted by the placenta and used for the early detection of pregnancy?
- a. Luteinizing hormone (LH)
- b. Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) ✅
- c. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
- d. Progesterone
- In amniotic fluid, the procedure used to detect hemolytic disease of the newborn is:
- a. Measurement of absorbance at 450 nm ✅
- b. Creatinine
- c. Lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio
- d. Estriol
- During a normal pregnancy, quantitative human chorionic gonadotropin levels peak at how many weeks after the last menstrual period?
- a. 2-4
- b. 8-10 ✅
- c. 14-16
- d. 18-20
- Which of the following steroids is an adrenal cortical hormone?
- a. Angiotensinogen
- b. Aldosterone ✅
- c. Epinephrine
- d. Growth hormone
- What common substrate is used in the biosynthesis of adrenal steroids, including androgens and estrogens?
- a. Cortisol
- b. Catecholamines
- c. Progesterone
- d. Cholesterol ✅
- The major action of angiotensin II is:
- a. Increased pituitary secretion of vasopressin
- b. Increased parathormone secretion by the parathyroid
- c. Decreased adrenal secretion of aldosterone
- d. Increased vasoconstriction ✅
- The urinary excretion product measured as an indicator of epinephrine production is:
- a. Dopamine
- b. Dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA)
- c. Homovanillic acid
- d. Vanillymandelic acid (VMA) ✅
- Which of the following hormones regulates normal blood calcium levels?
- a. Thyroxine
- b. Estriol
- c. Parathyroid hormone ✅
- d. Growth hormone
- A diagnosis of primary adrenal insufficiency requires demonstration of:
- a. Decreased urinary 17-keto and 17-hydroxysteroids
- b. Decreased cortisol production
- c. Impaired response to ACTH stimulation ✅
- d. Increased urinary cortisol excretion after metyrapone
- The screen for adrenal cortical hyperfunction with the greatest sensitivity and specificity is:
- a. A 24-hour free cortisol ✅
- b. Plasma cortisol
- c. Urinary 17-hydroxycorticosteroids
- d. Plasma corticosterone
- Aldosterone is released by the adrenal cortex upon stimulation by:
- a. Renin
- b. Angiotensinogen
- c. Angiotensin I
- d. Angiotensin II ✅
- Clinical assays for tumor markers are most important for:
- a. Screening for the presence of cancer
- b. Monitoring the course of a known cancer ✅
- c. Confirming the absence of disease
- d. Identifying patients at risk for cancer
- Detection of which of the following substances is most useful to monitor the course of a patient with testicular cancer?
- a. Alpha-fetoprotein ✅
- b. Carcinoembryonic antigen
- c. Prolactin
- d. Testosterone
- Increased concentrations of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in adults are most characteristically associated with:
- a. Hepatocellular carcinoma ✅
- b. Alcoholic cirrhosis
- c. Chronic active hepatitis
- d. Multiple myeloma
- Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is most likely to be produced in a malignancy involving the:
- a. Brain
- b. Testes
- c. Colon ✅
- d. Bone
- Which of the following is useful in the detection and management of carcinoma of the prostate?
- a. Total prostate-specific antigen ✅
- b. Prostatic acid phosphatase
- c. Human chorionic gonadotropin
- d. Alpha-fetoprotein
- Which of the following statements most correctly describes the utility of clinical laboratory assays for tumor markers?
- a. Tumor markers are useful to screen asymptomatic patients for tumors
- b. Tumor markers are highly specific
- c. Tumor markers indicate the likelihood of an individual developing a tumor
- d. Tumor markers are useful in tracking the efficacy of treatment ✅
- Cancer antigen 125 (CA 125) is a tumor marker associated with:
- a. Breast carcinoma
- b. Colon cancer
- c. Lung cancer
- d. Ovarian and endometrial carcinoma ✅
- In addition to carcinoma of the prostate, elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) can occur due to:
- a. Aspirin therapy
- b. Exogenous steroid use
- c. Benign prostatic hyperplasia ✅
- d. Statin therapy (cholesterol-lowering drug)
- Blood glucose levels are directly regulated by the hormone:
- a. Hydrocortisone
- b. Insulin ✅
- c. Thyroxin
- d. ACTH
- According to Landsteiner, when a specific antigen is present on blood cells, the corresponding antibody:
- a. May or may not be present depending on the agglutinogens present
- b. Is present in the serum
- c. Is present in the blood cells
- d. Is absent from the serum ✅
- Metabolic acidosis can be detected by testing urine for the presence of:
- a. Glucose
- b. Uric acid
- c. Ketone bodies ✅
- d. Protein
- The major cation found in the extracellular fluid is:
- a. Chloride
- b. Bicarbonate
- c. Sodium ✅
- d. Potassium
- Who is credited with processing the most readily acceptable theory of ABO inheritance?
- a. Levine
- b. Landsteiner ✅
- c. Weiner
- d. Bernstein
- Safranin in a Gram stain is used as a:
- a. Primary stain
- b. Secondary stain ✅
- c. Mordant
- d. Decolorizer
- Antihuman serum globulin reagent:
- a. Is produced in laboratory animals ✅
- b. Is produced in humans
- c. Never detects complement-dependent antibodies
- d. Occurs naturally in most humans
- Streptococcus pneumoniae:
- a. Grows best at slightly acid pH
- b. Is motile
- c. Is consistently gram-positive even in old cultures
- d. Capsules are produced by virulent strains ✅
- The type of anemia usually associated with severe burns is:
- a. Macrocytic
- b. Microcytic
- c. Aplastic
- d. Hemolytic ✅
- A substance that produces a prolonged prothrombin time when given orally is:
- a. Heparin
- b. Protamine sulfate
- c. Salicylate
- d. Coumadin ✅
- The principle involved in some automated blood cell counters is based on the:
- a. Amount of hemoglobin in the red cell
- b. Size of the particle being counted ✅
- c. Weight of the hemoglobin in the red cell
- d. Value of the cell indices
- On an automated blood cell counter, the two parameters affected by a high background count would be:
- a. Hct and WBC
- b. RBC and WBC ✅
- c. RBC and Hgb
- d. WBC and Hgb
- Leukemia may be suspected when a manual hematocrit determination reveals:
- a. Hemolysis
- b. A heavy buffy coat ✅
- c. Icteric plasma
- d. A high hematocrit
- A mother is Rh(D) negative. The father is homozygous Rh(D) positive. All of their offspring will be:
- a. Homozygous Rh(D) positive
- b. Heterozygous Rh(D) positive ✅
- c. 50% Rh(D) positive and 50% Rh(D) negative
- d. Erythroblastotic
- The quantity of inactivated serum used for qualitative VDRL test is:
- a. 0.05 mL ✅
- b. 0.10 mL
- c. 0.15 mL
- d. 0.02 mL
- Hansel’s stain is appropriate for:
- a. Phagocytic neutrophils
- b. Leukocytes in spinal fluid
- c. Nasal secretion for eosinophiles ✅
- d. Circulating eosinophiles
- As a general rule, when a blood cell matures:
- a. The cell decreases in size ✅
- b. There is no change in the cell’s size
- c. The nucleus increases in size
- d. The cell increases in size
- An RBC exhibiting hypochromia would be described as being:
- a. Packed with hemoglobin
- b. Variable in shape
- c. Markedly bluish in color ✅
- d. Markedly pale in central color
- Freezing point depression measurements are part of which one of the following urine test procedures?
- a. Refractive index
- b. Osmolality ✅
- c. Hydrometry
- d. Specific gravity
- When performing automated cell counts, most automated cell counter instruments:
- a. Count nucleated red blood cells with leukocytes ✅
- b. Count nucleated red blood cells with platelets
- c. Do not count nucleated red blood cells
- d. Count nucleated red blood cells with erythrocytes
- The egg of the Schistosoma characterized by a pronounced lateral spine is:
- a. Schistosoma mansoni ✅
- b. Schistosoma haematobium
- c. Schistosoma japonicum
- d. Schistosoma hepatica
- Fibrinogen determinations are performed on:
- a. Serum only
- b. Plasma only ✅
- c. Either serum or plasma
- d. Any body fluid
