serum
To view the entire topic, please sign in or purchase a subscription.
Nursing Central is the award-winning, complete mobile solution for nurses and students. Look up information on diseases, tests, and procedures; then consult the database with 5,000+ drugs or refer to 65,000+ dictionary terms. Explore these free sample topics:
-- The first section of this topic is shown below --
(sēr′ŭm)
(sēr′ă)
pl. sera [L. serum, whey]
1. A pale, watery fluid, esp. the fluid that moistens the surfaces of serous membranes.
2. The watery portion of the blood after coagulation. It is the fluid found when clotted blood is left standing long enough for the clot to shrink.
3. Serum obtained from blood that contains antibodies against a specific microorganism. It is used to provide immediate passive immunity.
SYN: SEE: immune globulin
-- To view the remaining sections of this topic, please sign in or purchase a subscription --