What does haemolysin mean?
Haemolysin is a substance that causes red blood cells to rupture, a process known as haemolysis. The word most often refers to a bacterial toxin or other bacterial product that damages the membranes of red blood cells, although antibodies with this effect are also described as haemolysins. Haemolysins are important in microbiology and medicine because they can contribute to infection, tissue injury, and disease, and because some are used to identify blood-group antibodies. Their effects may be visible in laboratory tests as clearing around bacterial colonies on blood agar, where complete haemolysis makes the surrounding agar transparent. The term is primarily associated with the biological and medical sciences, but it also occurs in discussions of bacterial virulence and diagnostic immunology. In British usage the word is commonly spelled haemolysin; in American usage, hemolysin is more usual. Its defining contrast is between an agent and an action: a haemolysin causes haemolysis, while haemolysis names the resulting rupture of red cells.
nounA substance, especially a bacterial toxin or antibody, that causes haemolysis: the rupture of red blood cells and release of their haemoglobin.
- A substance, especially a bacterial toxin or antibody, that causes the rupture of red blood cells and the release of haemoglobin.
"The laboratory tested the culture's haemolysin for its ability to damage red blood cells."
"The bacterium produces a potent haemolysin that damages nearby red blood cells."
"Immune haemolysins can be used to detect incompatible antibodies in blood samples."
Used when referring to distinct haemolytic substances, toxins, or antibodies.
"Researchers compared the haemolysins produced by several bacterial strains."
A haemolysin can rupture red blood cells from the outside, scattering their haemoglobin into the surrounding fluid.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of haemolysin
Haemolysin combines the Greek-derived combining form haem-, from haima meaning blood, with a form of lysis, meaning loosening, dissolution, or rupture. The construction follows the same Greek-root pattern as haemolysis, the process by which blood cells are dissolved. Related English words include haemoglobin, haematology, and haematopoiesis, all of which draw on the same Greek root for blood.
Related word forms
How haemolysin is actually used
This is chiefly a technical term in medicine, microbiology, immunology, and blood-group testing. British usage commonly uses the spelling haemolysin, while US usage commonly uses hemolysin.
Easily confused with haemolysin
Haemolysin is the agent that causes red blood cells to rupture, whereas haemolysis is the process of their rupture and haemoglobin release.