Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
adjuvant
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Videos
anesthesia
Quick Facts
Related Topics:
drug
See all related content
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

adjuvant

medicine
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History
anesthesia
anesthesiaHow anesthesia works.
See all videos for this article

adjuvant, substance that enhances the effect of a particular medical treatment. Administration of one drug may enhance the effect of another. In anesthesia, for example, sedative drugs are customarily given before an operation to reduce the quantity of anesthetic drug needed. In immunology an adjuvant is a substance that increases the body’s reaction to a foreign substance. The reaction to diphtheria toxoid—modified form of the toxin, or poisonous substance, produced by the organism that causes diphtheria—is increased, for example, if the toxoid is adsorbed (attached) to particles of aluminum hydroxide or aluminum phosphate.