autoantibody

American  

[aw-toh-an-ti-bod-ee, -an-tee-] / ˌɔ toʊˈæn tɪˌbɒd i, -ˈæn ti- /

noun

Immunology.

• autoantibodies
  plural

1. an antibody that an organism produces against any of its own tissues, cells, or cell components.

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autoantibody British  

/ ˌɔːtəʊˈæntɪˌbɒdɪ /

noun

1. an antibody reacting with an antigen that is a part of the organism in which the antibody is formed

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autoantibody Scientific  

/ ô′tō-ăn′tĭ-bŏd′ē /

1. An antibody that reacts with the cells, tissues, or native proteins of the individual in which it is produced. Autoimmune diseases are caused by the presence of autoantibodies.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• autoantibodies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of autoantibody

First recorded in 1905–10; auto- ¹ + antibody

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

autoantibody autoantibodies

Quadros’s research has found that a specific autoantibody blocks the transport of folate from mother to fetus during pregnancy and when present after birth, the infant’s brain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2025

Altogether, they and Barcelona colleague Francesc Graus have uncovered 11 of the 18 known varieties: a rogue’s gallery with sharply different symptoms depending on the autoantibody responsible.

From Science Magazine ● May 15, 2024

In adapting the technique to treat autoimmune disease, the team gave T cells a beacon derived from bits of the anti-DSG3 autoantibody, which leads the killers straight to anti-DSG3 B cells.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 20, 2021

What’s unusual about this result is that most autoantibody immune disorders appear in women, as is the case with the chronic disease lupus.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 17, 2020

An antibody that inappropriately marks self-components as foreign is termed an autoantibody.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 25, 2013

These individuals were identified through blood tests that detected specific autoantibodies associated with the disease.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 1, 2026

The finger-prick blood test checks for autoantibodies - proteins that the immune system makes which can attack the body's own tissues.

From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026

In diabetes, these autoantibodies attack the pancreas - the organ which has the job of making insulin to control blood sugar.

From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026

The current mainstay of therapy for this life-threatening blood disorder is plasma exchange, which removes the harmful autoantibodies and provides extra ADAMTS13.

From Science Daily ● May 17, 2024

The true rate of autoimmune encephalitis isn’t known, but most researchers suspect only a small fraction of psychosis cases trace to autoantibodies.

From Science Magazine ● May 15, 2024