Question

An example of apoptosis is:

• A. Councilman bodies
• B. Gamna Gandy body
• C. Russell bodies
• D. None

Hint:

Think of the apoptotic hepatocyte seen in acute viral hepatitis.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Apoptosis is programmed cell death in which a cell shrinks, the chromatin condenses, and the cell breaks into membrane-bound, eosinophilic apoptotic bodies that are engulfed by neighbouring cells.

Step 2: Councilman bodies (also called acidophilic or apoptotic bodies) are the apoptotic remnants of hepatocytes seen in acute viral hepatitis and yellow fever. They are a classic histological example of apoptosis, so option a is correct.

Step 3: Gamna Gandy bodies are organised foci of haemorrhage with fibrosis, calcium and iron deposition seen in a congested spleen, not apoptosis.

Step 4: Russell bodies are accumulations of immunoglobulin within plasma cells and represent a secretory or storage phenomenon, not apoptosis. Hence Councilman bodies are the correct example.