Obsolete term for the bactericidal substances of cell-free serum, the activity of which is destroyed by heating at 56°C; applied by Bordet to the heat-labile substance normally present in serum and distinct from the sensitizing substance (antibody) produced by infection or immunization. In this sense it is synonymous with complement. [G. alexo, to ward off]
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al·ex·in·ic .al-.ek-'sin-ik adj
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n.
a former name for the serum component now called complement.
Medical dictionary. 2011.