Title: cell-mediated immunity
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - cell-mediated immunity
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.12995
Status: current

Definition
Immune response mediated by antigen-specific T lymphocytes, either through the release of cytokines or through cytotoxicity, in contrast with humoral immunity, which is antibody-mediated.

Note
Cell-mediated immunity may be expressed as immune regulatory activity (primarily mediated by CD4+ helper T lymphocytes (Th), possibly important in preventing autoimmune diseases) or immune effector activity (mediated largely by CD8+ cytotoxic T cells).

Related Terms
- CD4+: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/12974
- CD8+: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/12977
- T lymphocytes: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13724
- autoimmune diseases: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/12919
- cytokines: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13065
- cytotoxic T cells: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13072
- cytotoxicity: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13071
- helper T lymphocytes (Th): https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13199
- humoral immunity: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13236
- immune regulation: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/13266

Source
- PAC, 2012, 84, 1113. 'IUPAC glossary of terms used in immunotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2012)' on page 1141 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-11-06-03)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12995/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12995/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/12995/xml

Citation: Citation: 'cell-mediated immunity' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.12995
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .
Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-08-01T20:38:27+00:00