Antiserum vs. Antibody

Antiserumnoun

(medicine) A serum prepared from human or animal sources containing antibodies specific for combatting an infectious disease.

Antiserumnoun

blood serum containing antibodies against specific antigens; provides immunity to a disease

Antiserum

Antiserum is human or nonhuman blood serum containing monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies that is used to spread passive immunity to many diseases via blood donation (plasmaphoresis). For example, convalescent serum, passive antibody transfusion from a previous human survivor, used to be the only known effective treatment for ebola infection with a high success rate of 7 out of 8 patients surviving.Antisera are widely used in diagnostic virology laboratories.

Antibodynoun

(immunology) A protein produced by B-lymphocytes that binds to a specific antigen.

Antibodynoun

Any of various bodies or substances in the blood which act in antagonism to harmful foreign bodies, as toxins or the bacteria producing the toxins. Normal blood serum apparently contains various antibodies, and the introduction of toxins or of foreign cells also stimulates production of their specific antibodies by the immune system.

Antibodynoun

more narrowly, any of the immunoglobulins present in the blood serum or other body fluids of an animal, which reacts with a specific antigenic substance, whether the antibody was produced as a consequence of the stimulus provided by the antigen, or was pre-existing prior to exposure of the organism to the antigen.

Antibodynoun

any of a large variety of proteins normally present in the body or produced in response to an antigen which it neutralizes, thus producing an immune response

Antibodynoun

a blood protein produced in response to and counteracting a specific antigen. Antibodies combine chemically with substances which the body recognizes as alien, such as bacteria, viruses, and foreign substances in the blood.

Antibody

An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the pathogen, called an antigen.