🧪 A test antibody 🔬 Reacting with foreign

heterophile

9.9

Tending to react with substances from a different species in medical tests

adjective
/ˈhɛtərəˌfaɪl/

Specialized

: heterófilo

A heterophile antibody can react with antigens from different species.

Examples

Doctors use tests that detect heterophile antibodies to help diagnose certain infections.
Some heterophile reactions can cause false positives in laboratory results.
The heterophile response can be crucial in diagnosing certain diseases.
Some individuals produce heterophile antibodies in response to infections.
Doctors use tests that detect heterophile antibodies to help diagnose certain infections.
Some heterophile reactions can cause false positives in laboratory results.
A heterophile antibody can react with antigens from different species.

Compounds

heterophile antibody

Specialized

1 7.5

A substance in the blood that reacts to parts from other animals and often appears in people with glandular fever

How Reactive

reactive

Specialized

5 5.1

heterophile

Specialized

9.9

nonreactive

Specialized

1 4.6

Surface Forms

heterophile positive

Morphology

heterophile = phile (semi-transparent) = hetero + phile

The meaning is partly compositional from hetero- and phile, but the biological and immunological sense is specialized rather than fully obvious.

Etymology

Heterophile has Greek parts hetero- meaning 'different' and -phile meaning 'loving', the same idea you see in heterosexual and bibliophile. So in biology heterophile describes something that 'reacts with' or is 'attracted to' substances from a different species.