#complement system
- Bacteriolytic — Causing bacteriolysis; relating to the destruction, dissolution, or rupture of the bacterial cell wall and membrane under the action of lytic agents. Biochemically and clinically, bacteriolytic properties are characteristic of specific antibiotics, enzymes (such as lysozyme in tears), or antibodies associated with the immune complement system.
- Bacteriolysis — A biochemical and immune process consisting of the destruction, dissolution, or structural disintegration of the bacterial cell wall and membrane, causing their death through the leakage of intracellular content. Physiologically, bacteriolysis is triggered by the direct action of specific enzymes, bacteriophages, or the membrane attack complex activated by the complement system in the presence of antibodies.
- Bacteriolysin — A specific antibody substance (or lytic antibody) produced by an organism as an immune response to the introduction of a bacterium, having the property of causing bacteriolysis in the presence of serum complement. Biochemically, bacteriolysins are part of the humoral defense mechanisms, acting as recognition markers that direct the cellular destruction complex toward pathogens.