SINCE 1828
immune system
nounDefinition of immune system
: the bodily system that protects the body from foreign substances, cells, and tissues by producing the immune response and that includes especially the thymus, spleen, lymph nodes, special deposits of lymphoid tissue (as in the gastrointestinal tract and bone marrow), macrophages, lymphocytes including the B cells and T cells, and antibodies
Examples of immune system in a Sentence
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That can tell them what types of cells or areas of the brain are coming under attack by the immune system. — Erin Allday, SFChronicle.com, "Rare disease discovery: Antibodies fighting cancer go on to attack brain," 14 July 2019 Reservoirs of the virus can accumulate within certain cells, undetected by the immune system. — John Lauerman, latimes.com, "Johnson & Johnson is about to test an experimental HIV vaccine on thousands of people," 12 July 2019 That study, which measured the effect of a drug like RAD001 on the immune system, also kept tabs on other signs of health and fitness, such as changes in walking speed. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Can a single pill keep you healthy to 100?," 10 July 2019 Otezla is used to treat forms of psoriasis, a skin-disease in which an overreaction by the immune system causes itchy rashes to form on the body. — Joseph Walker, WSJ, "Antitrust Concerns Delay Bristol-Myers’ $74 Billion Merger With Celgene," 24 June 2019 Inflammatory markers assess stress activation as a physiological response in the immune system; oxidative stress is tested as a measure of cell defense mechanisms. — Jenny Anderson, Quartz, "The scientific effort to protect babies from trauma before it happens," 22 June 2019 However, for patients with cancers of the immune system, such as leukemia, use of such an herb could help the cancer proliferate. — Meera Senthilingam, CNN, "Chinese medicine: The next step in cancer recovery?," 19 June 2019 The work in my lab over the past 10 years on PTLDS shows that something is going on with the immune system. — Linda Carroll, NBC News, "Possible clue to Lyme arthritis found in patients' inflamed joints," 18 June 2019 Subtle attacks on the pancreas are led by the sentries of the immune system, T cells. — Jennifer Couzin-frankel, Science | AAAS, "In milestone trial, experimental drug delays type 1 diabetes," 9 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'immune system.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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