adjuvant
American Heritage Dictionary:
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ad·ju·vant
(ăj'ə-vənt) 
n.
n.
- A pharmacological agent added to a drug to increase or aid its effect.
- An immunological agent that increases the antigenic response.
[From Latin adiuvāns, adiuvant-, present participle of adiuvāre, to help. See aid.]
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adjuvant
Obscure Words:
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adjuvant
[F. fr. L] /AH juh vant/
1) serving to aid or contribute : auxiliary
2) assisting in the prevention, amelioration, or cure of disease
Word Tutor:
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adjuvant
IN BRIEF: n. - An additive that enhances the effectiveness of medical treatment adj. - Enhancing the action of a medical treatment; Furnishing added support.
Tutor's tip: In the military, an "adjutant" is an assistant to the commanding officer. An "adjuvant" is a substance added to a drug to increase it's effectiveness.
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Wiley Dictionary of Flavors:
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Adjuvant
An ingredient that affects the food product and/or aids in the perception of the flavor. These are the non-flavoring ingredients that are also non-foods. See Regulations.
Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry:
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adjuvant
- (in immunology) any substance or mixture of substances that increases or diversifies the immune response to an antigen. See also Freund's adjuvant.
- (in pharmacology) any remedy or drug that assists or modifies the action of other remedies or drugs.
| adiuretin, adipsin, adipose tissue | |
| adjuvant peptide, adonitol, adonose |
Saunders Veterinary Dictionary:
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adjuvant
1. assisting or aiding.
2. a substance that aids another, such as an auxiliary remedy. Commonly used in reference to substances, commonly mineral oil or alum, added to vaccines to enhance antigenicity. See also freund's complete adjuvant.
Mosby's Dental Dictionary:
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adjuvant
(aj′əvənt)
n
n
In a prescription, an auxiliary active ingredient that supports the action of the basic drug.
Wikipedia on Answers.com:
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Adjuvant
An adjuvant (from Latin, adiuvare: to aid) is a pharmacological or immunological agent that modifies the effect of other agents, such as a drug or vaccine. They are often included in vaccines to enhance the recipient's immune response to a supplied antigen, while keeping the injected foreign material to a minimum.[1][2]
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Contents
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Immunologic adjuvants
Main article: Immunologic adjuvant
Immunologic adjuvants are added to vaccines to stimulate the immune system's response to the target antigen, but do not in themselves confer immunity. Adjuvants can act in various ways in presenting an antigen to the immune system. Adjuvants can act as a depot for the antigen, presenting the antigen over a long period of time, thus maximizing the immune response before the body clears the antigen. Examples of depot type adjuvants are oil emulsions. Adjuvants can also act as an irritant which causes the body to recruit and amplify its immune response.[3] A tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis vaccine, for example, contains minute quantities of toxins produced by each of the target bacteria, but also contains some aluminium hydroxide.[4] Such aluminium salts are common adjuvants in vaccines sold in the United States and have been used in vaccines for over 70 years.[5] The body's immune system develops an antitoxin to the bacteria's toxins, not to the aluminium, but would not respond enough without the help of the aluminium adjuvant.
Adjuvants as stabilizing agents
Although immunological adjuvants have traditionally been viewed as substances that aid the immune response to antigen, adjuvants have also evolved as substances that can aid in stabilizing formulations of antigens, especially for vaccines administered for animal health.[3]
See also
- Adjuvant care
- Agricultural spray adjuvant
- Combination therapy
- Freund's adjuvant
- Immunologic adjuvant
- Inactivated vaccine
- Pharmaceutic adjuvant
References
- ^ "ABC News: Swine Flu Vaccine: What The Heck Is an Adjuvant, Anyway? (2009)". Abcnews.go.com. 2009-08-11. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SwineFluNews/story?id=8296948. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
- ^ "Definition of immunological adjuvant -- NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms". www.cancer.gov. http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary/?CdrID=43987. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
- ^ a b "Adjuvants as stabilizing agents". Benchmark Biolabs, Inc.. http://benchmarkbiolabs.com/resources/about-adjuvants/. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
- ^ , GlaxoSmithKline, 2009
- ^ Clapp, Tanya; Siebert, Paul; Chen, Dexiang; Jones Braun, Latoya (2011). "Vaccines with aluminium-containing adjuvants: Optimizing vaccine efficacy and thermal stability". Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 100 (2): 388–401. doi:10.1002/jps.22284. PMID 20740674.
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Wiley Dictionary of Flavors
Copyright © 2008 by Wiley-Blackwell. Wiley and the Wiley logo are registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Used here by license. Read more
Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry
Oxford University Press. Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology © 1997, 2000, 2006 All rights reserved.
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Saunders Veterinary Dictionary
Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.
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Mosby's Dental Dictionary
Mosby's Dental Dictionary. Copyright © 2004 by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.
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