| Arthus phenomenon | A form of immediate hypersensitivity resulting in erythema, oedema, haemorrhage, and necrosis observed in rabbits after injection of antigen to which the animal has already been sensitised and has specific IgG antibodies. The reaction is caused by the inflammation that results from the deposition of antigen-antibody complexes in tissue spaces and in blood vessel walls that activate complement, most of the damage seemingly being due to the polymorphonuclear leukocytes that phagocytise the deposits and release lysosomal enzymes. The phenomenon, described by Arthus, was in rabbits, but similar reactions (Arthus-type reactions) are observed in guinea pigs, rats, and dogs, as well as in humans. See: Arthus reaction. Synonym: Arthus reaction. (05 Mar 2000) |
|---|---|
| Arthus reaction | <dermatology, immunology> A localised inflammation due to injection of antigen into an animal that has a high level of circulating antibody against that antigen. A haemorrhagic reaction with oedema occurs due to the destruction of small blood vessels by thrombi. It may occur, as in Farmer's Lung, as a reaction to natural exposure to antigen. (18 Nov 1997) |
| Arthus, Nicolas | <person> French bacteriologist, 1862-1945. See: Arthus phenomenon, Arthus reaction. (05 Mar 2000) |
| arthus-type reaction's | Reaction's in man and other species that result from the same basic immunologic (allergic) mechanism which evokes, in the rabbit, the typical Arthus phenomenon. See: immune complex disease. (05 Mar 2000) |