Table 1 Definitions of biomarker in common medical dictionaries.
Medical dictionary | Definition of biomarker |
|---|---|
The Oxford Concise Medical Dictionary (10 ed.) | A normal metabolite that, when present in abnormal concentrations in certain body fluids, can indicate the presence of a particular disease or toxicological condition. For example, abnormal concentrations of glucose in the blood can be indicative of diabetes mellitus. |
Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary (33rd ed.) | A biological molecule used as a marker for the substance or process of interest. |
Online Harvard Medical Dictionary of Health Terms | A distinctive biological indicator of an event, process, or condition. |
Black’s Medical Dictionary (43 ed.) | A material measurable in blood or other body fluids which indicates the presence or absence of a disease or condition. Biomarkers are used in diagnosis, more commonly in surveillance of someone being treated or observed for a known condition. |
Merriam-Webster’s Medical Dictionary (new ed.) | A biological or biologically derived indicator (as a metabolite in the body) of a process, event or condition (as disease or exposure to a toxin) |
A Dictionary of Biomedicine (2nd ed.) | 1. Any biological feature that provides information about the status of a system, either an organism or a whole ecosystem. Biomarkers for the concentration of heavy metals in soil as pollution indicators are an example. |
2. A more restricted usage is for molecules (e.g. proteins, antigens) that may indicate disease if found at increased levels in the blood. |
