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humoral

humoral

1 8.1
Relating to the body fluids and the defence that uses antibodies in the blood
  • adjective
  • /ˈhjuːmərəl/
  • Specialized
translation icon : humoral
  • The doctor explained that a strong humoral response is crucial for fighting infections.
  • humoral immune
  • humoral response
  • humoral immunity

Examples

  • Traditionally, bloodletting was a standard remedy for many humoral distempers.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Vaccination works by stimulating a robust humoral reaction that produces antibodies.

  • Therefore, other factors in addition to humoral immunity must contribute.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Now T cells are also involved in humoral immunity, but they're not the end result.

  • You have to activate both the humoral and the cell mediated sides such that they interact in order to enhance the immune response.

  • Most individuals infected with HIV-1 show disease progression despite both cellular and humoral immune responses.

    Academic text (1996)
  • I'd point out that breastfeeding does provide humoral immunity to infants; it just isn't enough to prevent many vaccine-preventable diseases.

    Blog text (13)
  • T helper 2 cells (Th2) are associated with humoral immunity and allergic responses and are the main immune response to helminths.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Research shows that humoral factors in the blood play a key role in immune defense.

Compounds

6.3

Part of the body's defence where B cells make antibodies in the blood to fight bacteria and toxins

Surface Forms

humoral positive

Morphology

humoral = humor (opaque) = humor + al

The word is historically built from 'humor' plus '-al', but the relevant bodily-fluid sense is specialized and not recoverable from the common modern meaning of 'humor'.

Etymology

Humoral comes from the Latin word humor, which means 'liquid' or 'moisture' and gave rise to the old idea of four 'humors' like blood and phlegm that people thought controlled health. So humoral today means 'relating to bodily fluids', for example the antibodies that travel in the blood and help fight infection.