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biological marker

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biomarker

(1) A characteristic which is objectively measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biological processes, pathogenic processes or pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention.
(2) A molecular indicator of a specific biological property or function that can be measured in blood or other body fluids or tissues; a biochemical feature or facet that can be used to suggest the presence of a particular disease, measure its progress or the effects of treatment.
 
Examples
PSA for prostate cancer, Hb1a for glucose control in diabetics, troponin I for acute MI.
Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

biological marker

Biomarker, a substance, physiological characteristic, gene, etc. that indicates, or may indicate, the presence of disease, a physiological abnormality or a psychological condition.
Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005
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References in periodicals archive
Conclusion: This study has reinforced that serum eosinophil cationic protein is a dependable biological marker with more discriminatory power over other indicators for bronchial asthma and to assess its severity.
Pathophysiologic aspects of S-100[beta] protein: a new biological marker of brain pathology.
Some bioethicists make "delayed personhood" arguments which claim that before an "X" biological marker event there is no human "individual" and therefore the human embryo or foetus has a reduced moral status.
In Herbert Moller's article "The Accelerated Development of Youth: Beard Growth as a Biological Marker," he argues that in the early modern period facial hair "consistently matured several years later in the life course than it does in the twentieth century" (754-55).
The findings, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, showed that the average cortisol level-a biological marker of the body's stress response - among 113 of low-income children who lived in poor neighbourhoods reached the 75th percentile.
It also offers new insights in to what the underlying mechanisms are, by examining the concentration of 8-isoprostane (8-iso), which is exhaled in the breath and believed to be a biological marker of tissue damage in the lungs.
Now, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report identifying a biological marker: the over-production of specific genes that could be a diagnostic indicator of mental illness in female psychiatric patients.
Eugene Lipov, coauthor of Exit Strategy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: New Hope for War Fighters & Civilians Alike, plans to treat patients and follow up with biological marker tests that would help prove his theory that PTSD is a medical, not a psychological, condition.
Other topics include a pathway for the development of drugs, the new epidemiology showing changing trends and causes, adverse effects of corticosteroid therapy, and whether colonic hypersensitivity really is a biological marker for the syndrome.
Professor Shah Ebrahim, who led the latest research, said, "We believe that shaving acts as a biological marker for the amount of sex hormone, testosterone, men have in their bodies.
The university's Institute for Ageing and Health has found a strong link between blood cell telomere length, a biological marker of ageing, and the function of the heart.
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