Adjuvants, Immunologic

Synonyms

Adjuvant, Immunologic

Adjuvant, Immunological

Adjuvants, Immunological

Immunoactivators

Immunoadjuvants

Immunologic Adjuvant

Immunologic Adjuvants

Immunological Adjuvant

Immunological Adjuvants

Immunopotentiators

Immunostimulants

Substances that augment, stimulate, activate, potentiate, or modulate the immune response at either the cellular or humoral level. The classical agents (Freund's adjuvant, BCG, Corynebacterium parvum, et al.) contain bacterial antigens. Some are endogenous (e.g., histamine, interferon, transfer factor, tuftsin, interleukin-1). Their mode of action is either non-specific, resulting in increased immune responsiveness to a wide variety of antigens, or antigen-specific, i.e., affecting a restricted type of immune response to a narrow group of antigens. The therapeutic efficacy of many biological response modifiers is related to their antigen-specific immunoadjuvanticity.