| ICU | infant care unit; immunologic contact urticaria; intensive care unit; intermediate care unit |
|---|---|
| OILD | occupational immunologic lung disease |
| LES | Lambert-Eaton syndrome; Lawrence Experimental Station [agar]; local excitatory state; Locke egg seru... |
| PAF | paroxysmal atrial fibrillation; peroxisomal assembly factor; phosphodiesterase-activating factor; pl... |
| PC | avoirdupois weight [Lat. pondus civile]; packed cells; paper chromatography; paracortex; parent cell... |
| primary refractory anaemia | Any of a group of anaemic conditions in which there is persistent, frequently advanced anaemia that is not successfully treated by any means except blood transfusions, and that is not associated with another primary disease. (05 Mar 2000) |
|---|---|
| secondary refractory anaemia | Any persistent anaemia that is successfully treated only by blood transfusions, and that is associated with another condition. (05 Mar 2000) |
| effective refractory period | The period during which impulses may appear but are too weak to be conducted; the longest interval between adequate stimuli, falling just short of the time necessary to allow a propagated response to be evoked in a tissue by the second stimulus; it differs from the functional refractory period in that it is a measure of stimulus interval rather than response interval of time. (05 Mar 2000) |
| total refractory period | The absolute refractory period plus the relative refractory period. (05 Mar 2000) |
| functional refractory period | The minimum interval possible between successive responses to stimulation of a tissue. (05 Mar 2000) |
| adjuvants, immunologic | Substances that augment, stimulate, activate, potentiate, or modulate the immune response at either the cellular or humoral level. The classical agents (freund's adjuvant, bcg, corynebacterium parvum, et al.) contain bacterial antigens. Some are endogenous (e.g., histamine, interferon, transfer factor, tuftsin, interleukin-1). Their mode of action is either non-specific, resulting in increased immune responsiveness to a wide variety of antigens, or antigen-specific, i.e., affecting a restricted type of immune response to a narrow group of antigens. The therapeutic efficacy of many biological response modifiers is related to their antigen-specific immunoadjuvanticity. (12 Dec 1998) |
| receptors, immunologic | Cell surface molecules on cells of the immune system that specifically bind surface molecules or messenger molecules and trigger changes in the behaviour of cells. Although these receptors were first identified in the immune system, many have important functions elsewhere. (12 Dec 1998) |
| graft enhancement, immunologic | The induction of prolonged survival and growth of allografts of either tumours or normal tissues which would ordinarily be rejected. It may be induced passively by introducing graft-specific antibodies from previously immunised donors, which bind to the graft's surface antigens, masking them from recognition by T-cells; or actively by prior immunization of the recipient with graft antigens which evoke specific antibodies and form antigen-antibody complexes which bind to the antigen receptor sites of the T-cells and block their cytotoxic activity. (12 Dec 1998) |
| monitoring, immunologic | Testing of immune status in the diagnosis and therapy of cancer, immunoproliferative and immunodeficiency disorders, and autoimmune abnormalities. Changes in immune parameters are of special significance before, during and following organ transplantation. Strategies include measurement of tumour antigen and other markers (often by radioimmunoassay), studies of cellular or humoral immunity in cancer aetiology, immunotherapy trials, etc. (12 Dec 1998) |
| contraception, immunologic | Contraceptive methods utilizing immunologic processes. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cytotoxicity, immunologic | The phenomenon of target cell destruction by immunologically active effector cells. It may be brought about directly by sensitised T-lymphocytes or by lymphoid or myeloid "killer" cells, or it may be mediated by cytotoxic antibody, cytotoxic factor released by lymphoid cells, or complement. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cytotoxicity tests, immunologic | The demonstration of the cytotoxic effect on a target cell of a lymphocyte, a mediator released by a sensitised lymphocyte, an antibody, or complement. (12 Dec 1998) |
| suppressor factors, immunologic | Proteins, protein complexes, or glycoproteins secreted by suppressor T-cells that inhibit either subsequent T-cells, B-cells, or other immunologic phenomena. Some of these factors have both histocompatibility (I-j) and antigen-specific domains which may be linked by disulfide bridges. They can be elicited by haptens or other antigens and may be mass-produced by hybridomas or monoclones in the laboratory. (12 Dec 1998) |
| desensitization, immunologic | Immunosuppression by the administration of increasing doses of antigen. Though the exact mechanism is not clear, the therapy results in an increase in serum levels of allergen-specific IgG, suppression of specific IgE, and an increase in suppressor T-cell activity. (12 Dec 1998) |
| dose-response relationship, immunologic | A specific immune response elicited by a specific dose of an immunologically active substance or cell in an organism, tissue, or cell. (12 Dec 1998) |