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immunosuppressive drug

immunosuppressive drug

1 3.9
A drug that makes the body's immune system weaker to prevent organ rejection or treat autoimmune disease
  • noun
  • /ɪˌmjunəʊsəˈprɛsɪv drʌg/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fármaco inmunosupresor
  • Doctors use immunosuppressive drugs to manage autoimmune diseases by reducing the immune system's activity.
  • receiving immunosuppressive drugs

Examples

  • After receiving an organ transplant, the patient must take immunosuppressive drugs to prevent rejection of the new organ.

  • They were both over thirty, married, with children, and Helen had received a kidney from her sister, which was a good match, with a good blood supply and good output, and the rejection she suffered had been controlled so far with doses of immunosuppressive drugs.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • If not, other immunosuppressive drugs need to be tried.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Then you have to wait for someone right to die, and you take all these immunosuppressive drugs that make life unpleasant.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Treatment consists of high-dose corticosteroids and sometimes immunosuppressive drugs.

    Academic text (2007)
  • First, because a patient received immunosuppressive drugs, specific antibodies against HEV might be absent.

    Academic text (2012)
  • However, the prolonged use of these immunosuppressive drugs can cause significant side effects and therefore may necessitate their discontinuation.

    Academic text (2007)
  • It is increasingly recognized that modern immunosuppressive drugs can have adverse effects on renal allograft.

    Academic text (2007)
  • But in the case of Hashimoto's, the consequences—i.e., side effects and complications—of using immunosuppressive drugs are believed to outweigh the potential benefits.

    Blog text (31)
  • That is because vulnerable people—like newborns and individuals receiving chemotherapy or immunosuppressive drugs—depend on the immunity of those around them to protect them from dangerous diseases.

    Academic text (2016)

Synonyms

immunosuppressant
vsimmunosuppressive drug
  • Specialized
1 6.1

A drug that weakens the body's immune system to stop it rejecting a new organ

is the class term used to define drugs that reduce immune response
cyclosporine
vsimmunosuppressive drug
  • Specialized
1 5.5

A drug that weakens the immune system to stop organ rejection after a transplant

is the general category that also covers drugs for autoimmune conditions
azathioprine
vsimmunosuppressive drug
  • Specialized
1 9.8

A drug that lowers the body's immune response to prevent organ rejection and treat autoimmune disease

is the general class term covering many such drugs
Imuran
vsimmunosuppressive drug
  • Specialized
1 9.7

A drug that weakens the body's defences to stop a transplanted organ being rejected

is the class name rather than a brand label for a single drug
immune suppressant drug
vsimmunosuppressive drug
  • Specialized
4.8

A drug that lowers the body's natural defense to stop organ rejection or treat diseases where the body attacks itself

is the more technical expression for the same drug group
immunosuppressive
vsimmunosuppressive drug
  • Specialized
6.7

A drug that lowers the body's natural defence to prevent organ rejection

is the broader class label covering such medical uses
immunosuppressor
vsimmunosuppressive drug
  • Specialized
7.2

Drug that makes the body's immune system weaker

adds common use details like preventing rejection or treating autoimmune disease
cyclophosphamide
vsimmunosuppressive drug
  • Specialized
7.4

A medicine that weakens the immune system to treat diseases where the body attacks itself and to prevent transplant rejection

is the broad drug class that includes this medicine among others

Surface Forms

Morphology

immunosuppressive + drug

The noun phrase is a straightforward composition of 'immunosuppressive' (an agent that inhibits immune activity) and 'drug' (a medicine), so its meaning — a medicine that suppresses the immune system — is directly derivable from the parts. Adjective + noun compounding is a common, transparent pattern across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would understand this expression.

Etymology

Immunosuppressive drug comes from the parts immune, meaning the body's defenders, and suppressive, meaning 'to calm or reduce'. Imagine a medicine telling the defenders to stand down so they do not 'attack' a new organ or the body's own tissues, and so the phrase means a drug that reduces the immune response.