immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see the ...

, the term sensitization is used for the following concepts:Anderson DM, ed. (2003). "Sensitization." ''

Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary ''Dorland's'' is the brand name of a family of medical reference works (including dictionaries, spellers and word books, and spell-check software) in various media spanning printed books, CD-ROMs, and online content. The flagship products are ''Do ...

'', 30th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders, p. 1680. .Brown MJ, ed. (1992). "Sensitization." '' Miller-Keane Encyclopedia & Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health'', 5th ed. Philadelphia; London: Saunders, p. 1352. .Pugh MB, ed. (2000). "Sensitization." '' Stedman's Medical Dictionary'', 27th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, p. 1619. .Tada T, Taniguchi M, Okumura Y, Miyasaka M, eds. (1993). "Sensitization." ''Dictionary of Terms in Immunology'', 3rd ed. Osaka: Saishin-Igakusha, Ltd., p. 510. C3547 (in Japanese). *

Immunization Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an infectious agent (known as the immunogen). When this system is exposed to molecules that are foreign to the body, called ''non-se ...

by inducing an adaptive response in the immune system. In this sense, sensitization is the term more often in usage for induction of allergic responses.Janeway C, Travers P, Walport M, Shlomchik M, eds. (2001). ''Immunobiology 5: The Immune System in Health and Disease.'' New York: Garland Pub., * To bind antibodies to cells such as

erythrocytes Red blood cells (RBCs), also referred to as red cells, red blood corpuscles (in humans or other animals not having nucleus in red blood cells), haematids, erythroid cells or erythrocytes (from Greek ''erythros'' for "red" and ''kytos'' for "holl ...

in advance of performing an immunological test such as a

complement-fixation test The complement fixation test is an immunological medical test that can be used to detect the presence of either specific antibody or specific antigen in a patient's serum, based on whether complement fixation occurs. It was widely used to diagnose ...

or a

Coombs test A Coombs test, also known as antiglobulin test (AGT), is either of two blood tests used in immunohematology. They are the direct and indirect Coombs tests. The direct Coombs test detects antibodies that are stuck to the surface of the red blood ...

. The antibodies are bound to the cells in their

Fab regions The fragment antigen-binding region (Fab region) is a region on an antibody that binds to antigens. It is composed of one constant and one variable domain of each of the heavy and the light chain. The variable domain contains the paratope (the an ...

in the preparation. * To bind antibodies or soluble antigens chemically or by adsorption to appropriate biological entities such as erythrocytes or particles made of gelatin or

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...

for passive aggregation tests. Those particles themselves are biologically inactive except for serving as antigens against the primary antibodies or as carriers of the antigens. When antibodies are used in the preparation, they are bound to the erythrocyte or particles in their Fab regions. Thus the step follows requires the secondary antibodies against those primary antibodies, that is, the secondary antibodies must have binding specificity to the primary antibodies including to their Fc regions.

References

{{Reflist Immunology