gamma globulin

See also: gammaglobulin

English

Globulin fractions

Alternative forms

• γ-globulin

Noun

gamma globulin (countable and uncountable, plural gamma globulins)

1. (biochemistry) A class of proteins in the blood, identified by their position after serum protein electrophoresis. The most significant gamma globulins are antibodies.
2. (medicine) A fraction of blood serum containing the most antibodies.
   • 2010, Donald Sturrock, “A Tornado of Troubles”, in Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, pages 383–384:

     Then, one day in November 1962, Olivia [Roald Dahl’s daughter] returned home from school with a note from the headmistress at Godstowe, notifying all parents that there was an outbreak of measles. Pat [Patricia Neal, Roald’s wife] and Roald were concerned largely for Theo [their son], because he was still so vulnerable to infection. There was no generic measles vaccination available then… However, Dahl knew that gamma globulin could be used to boost children’s immunity against the disease and that, although uncommon in England, in America it was a fairly routine prophylactic.

   • 2010, Donald Sturrock, “Breaking Point”, in Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 388:

     The pediatrician Dr. [Philip Rainsford] Evans, who had arrived at the hospital after Olivia died, came early the next morning to Gipsy House and told them [Roald and Patricia] that she [Olivia] had been the victim of measles encephalitis, a rare inflammation of the brain… He confirmed that large doses of gamma globulin could well have prevented her from getting the disease. Thus, Pat remembered, began the “landslide of anger and frustration” that almost buried the family.

Derived terms

• gammaglobulinemia
• gammaglobulinopathy
• gammopathy

Translations

class of proteins in the blood

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 丙種球蛋白 / 丙种球蛋白 (bǐngzhǒng qiúdànbái), 丙球蛋白 (bǐngqiúdànbái)

• Finnish: gammaglobuliini (fi)
• French: gammaglobuline (fr) f

fraction of blood serum

• Spanish: gammaglobulina (es) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Irish: ^{(please verify)} gáma-ghlóbailin f
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} gammaglobulina (it) f

Trivia

• See Olivia Twenty “Livy” Dahl on Find a Grave. This is what comes from not giving gamma globulin to a child. (Olivia, daughter of Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal.)