immunosuppressive
Meaning of immunosuppressive: Immunosuppressive describes a drug, therapy, or condition that reduces the activity of the body's immune system.
Definition of immunosuppressive
Immunosuppressive describes something, typically a medication or medical condition, that reduces the activity of the immune system, the body's network of cells and processes that normally defends against infection and abnormal cells. An immunosuppressive drug can work through several different mechanisms, including blocking the activation of immune cells, reducing inflammation, or interfering with the signals immune cells use to communicate.
Immunosuppressive medications are deliberately used in situations such as preventing rejection after an organ or bone marrow transplant and treating autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own tissue. In these cases, dampening immune activity is the intended therapeutic goal rather than an unwanted side effect.
A drug can also have an immunosuppressive effect as a secondary consequence of treating something else, as occurs with many chemotherapy medications and some long term corticosteroid regimens, an effect that raises the risk of infection alongside the drug's primary intended action.
Used in a sentence
The patient was monitored closely for infection while receiving immunosuppressive therapy after the transplant.
Good to know
An immunosuppressive effect can be the deliberate goal of a treatment, as with transplant medication, or an unintended side effect of a drug given for another purpose, a distinction relevant to how the resulting infection risk is understood.
Word origin
Where “immunosuppressive” comes from
Formed from Latin immunis, meaning exempt or protected, and supprimere, meaning to press down or suppress.