Category: Ka-Kz

Inflammation of the cornea. Keratitis can occur due to abrasion trauma, infection, or underlying diseases such as Sjogren’s syndrome and lupus. Keratitis can lead to blindness.

A protein found in the upper layer of the skin, hair, and nails, and in animal horns.

1. The skin disease Keratodermia blennorrhagicum. 2. Kilobase of DNA. The preferred abbreviation for kilobase is kb in lower case letters.

A disorder of the bones and joints of the hands and fingers, elbows, knees, and ankles of children and adolescents who slowly develop stiff deformed joints, shortened limb length and short stature due to necrosis (death) of the growth plates of bones and of joint cartilage. The disorder is endemic in some areas of eastern Siberia, Korea, China and Tibet…

During cell division, the process of partition of a cell’s nucleus into the daughter cells. 

Any cell that possesses a nucleus. A neuron (nerve cell) is a karyocyte; it has a nucleus. A mature erythrocyte (red blood cell) is not a karyocyte; it lacks a nucleus. The term “karyocyte” is made up of “kary-” from the Greek “karyon” meaning “nut or kernel” + “-cyte” from the Greek “kytos” meaning a “hollow vessel” = a…

The presence of potassium in the blood. The word “kalemia” is seldom used today although it is the basis for the terms for abnormally high blood potassium (hyperkalemia) and low blood potassium (hypokalemia).

A chronic and potentially fatal parasitic disease of the viscera (the internal organs, particularly the liver, spleen, bone marrow and lymph nodes) due to infection by the parasite called Leishmania donovani. Leishmania donovani, the agent of kala-azar, is transmitted by sandfly bites in parts of Asia (primarily India), Africa (primarily Sudan) and South America (primarily Brazil) where all together there are an estimated half million…

K is the symbol for potassium, the major positive ion (cation) found inside of cells. The chemical notation for potassium is K+. The proper level of potassium is essential for normal cell function. An abnormal increase of potassium (hyperkalemia) or decrease of potassium (hypokalemia) can profoundly affect the nervous system and heart, and when extreme, can be fatal.…