Lysis

Destruction. Hemolysis (hemo-lysis) is the destruction of red blood cells with the release of hemoglobin; bacteriolysis (bacterio-lysis) is the destruction of bacteria; etc. Lysis can also refer to the subsidence of one or more symptoms of an acute disease as, for example, the fever of pneumonia.

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1. Destruction of red blood cells, bacteria, and other structures by a specific lysin, usually referred to by the structure destroyed ( e.g., hemolysis, bacteriolysis, nephrolysis); may be due to a direct toxin or an immune mechanism, such as antibody reacting with antigen on the surface of a target cell, usually by binding and activation of a series of proteins in the blood with enzymatic activity (complement system). 2. Gradual subsidence of the symptoms of an acute disease, a form of the recovery process, as distinguished from crisis. [G. dissolution or loosening]

- bystander l. complement-mediated l. of nearby cells in the vicinity of a complement activation site.

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ly·sis 'lī-səs n, pl ly·ses -.sēz

1) the gradual decline of a disease process (as fever) compare CRISIS (1)

2) a process of disintegration or dissolution (as of cells)

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n.

the destruction of cells through damage or rupture of the plasma membrane, allowing escape of the cell contents. See also autolysis, lysozyme.

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ly·sis (liґsis) [Gr. “dissolution; a loosing, setting free, releasing”] 1. dissolution or destruction of an organ or structure, such as the destruction of bone by loss of calcium (osteolysis). 2. cytolysis. 3. decomposition, as of a chemical compound by a specific agent. Cf. degradation. 4. mobilization of an organ by division of restraining adhesions. 5. gradual abatement of the symptoms of a disease; cf. crisis (def. 1).