What are they? Antibodies are proteins produced by a person's immune system that help the body to recognise and get rid of infection. Autoantibodies are antibodies that recognise parts of our own body. Autoantibodies can be found in healthy people, particularly as we get older, but they are also found in some autoimmune diseases. In a few specific...
To adjust the output or reading from a testing device to assure that it gives a correct answer. The adjustment is based on measurement of one or more known substances called standards (or calibrators).
An allergic reaction to proteins in a foreign serum, usually in response to an injection; it is characterised by symptoms such as fever, skin rash, pain and swelling in one or more joints, and kidney damage
The property of some materials to emit light when exposed to radiation or to light of a different colour. The light produced is called fluorescence. A fluorescent substance is one possessing the property of fluorescence.
One of the five classes of immunoglobulins; it is present primarily in the skin and mucous membranes and is believed to function in response to environmental antigens and to play a role in allergic reactions characterised by skin eruptions.
One of the four major groups of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites) that may live freely in nature, live on another organism without harming it, or live at the expense of the host organism
Specialised cells in the pancreas that produce and secrete one of several hormones that affect certain body functions; some examples include alpha cells that produce glucagon and beta cells that produce insulin.
One of the four major groups of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi) that occurs in nature as a yeast (small unicellular structure similar to bacteria) or a mold (large filamentous forms that may be seen with the naked eye)
A chemical that has at least one hydrogen atom, tastes sour, turns litmus paper pink or red, and forms a salt when combined with a base. Hydrochloric acid is a part of the digestive juice produced in the normal stomach.
Plural: glomeruli; one of a number of specialised structures in the kidney, composed of loops of specialised capillaries that filter blood, allowing small substances to pass through towards the urine but preventing loss of larger proteins and blood cells.