Glossary

Author: Glossary

  • Calciferol

    Used at one time as a name for ercalciol (ergocalciferol or vitamin D2), made by the ultraviolet irradiation of ergosterol. Also used as a general term to include both vitamers of vitamin D (vitamins D2 and D3). Synonym for vitamin D. One of the D vitamins, a chemical found in milk and fish liver oils…

  • Calcidiol

    The 25-hydroxy-derivative of vitamin D, also known as 25-hydroxycholecalciferol, the main storage and circulating form of the vitamin in the body.  

  • Caecum

    The first part of the large intestine, separated from the small intestine by the ileo-colic sphincter. Literally, a blind pouch. The wider part of the large intestine in the lower right-hand side of the abdoment at the point where the small intestine joins it and which has the appendix attached to it. The dilated first…

  • Cadaverine

    Low molecular weight polyamine with biological activity, the decarboxylation product of lysine.  

  • Butyric acid

    A short-chain saturated fatty acid (CTO). fatty acid, C3H7COOH, derived from butter but rare in most fats. It is a viscid liquid with a rancid odor; it is used in disinfectants, emulsifying agents, and pharmaceuticals.  

  • Buffers

    Salts of weak acids and bases that resist a change in the pH when acid or alkali is added. A mixture of compounds which, when added to a solution, protects it from any substantial change in pH. In pharmacology, a mixture of an acid and its conjugate base which, when present in a solution, reduces…

  • Brunner’s glands

    Mucus-secreting glands in the duodenum. Glands in the duodenum and jejunum [Described 1687. After Johann Konrad Brunner (1653-1727), Swiss anatomist at Heidelberg, then at Strasbourg.] Compound glands of the small intestine, found in the duodenum and the upper part of the jejunum. They are embedded in the submucosa and secrete mucus. Compound glands of the…

  • Brown adipose tissue (brown fat)

    Metabolically highly active adipose tissue, which is involved in heat production to maintain body temperature, as opposed to white adipose tissue, which is storage fat and has a low rate of metabolic activity.  

  • Bromatology

    The science of foods.  

  • Bradyphagia

    Eating very slowly. Abnormal slowness in eating or swallowing.