Accepted Abbreviations
Abbreviations are in alphabetical order by definition. Please use Ctrl+F to locate abbreviations.
A
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| acceleration of free fall | g |
| adrenocorticotropic hormone | ACTH |
| adenosine 5´-phosphate | AMP |
| adenosine 5´-diphosphate | ADP |
| adenosine 5´-triphosphate | ATP |
| adenosine triphosphatase | ATPase |
| advanced glycation end-product | AGE |
| albumin excretion rate | AER |
| allophycocyanin | APC |
| American Diabetes Association | ADA |
| ampère | A |
| analysis of covariance | ANCOVA |
| analysis of variance | ANOVA |
| angiotensin-converting enzyme | ACE |
| area under the curve | AUC |
| atom per cent excess | APE |
B
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| base pair | bp |
| becquerel | Bq |
| bicinchoninic acid | BCA |
| blood pressure | BP, express in mmHg |
| body mass index | BMI |
| bovine serum albumin | BSA |
| bromodeoxyuridine/5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine | BrdU |
C
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| 5’—C—phosphate—G—3′ | CpG |
| carbonyl cyanide 4-(trifluoromethoxy)phenylhydrazone | FCCP |
| cardiovascular disease | CVD |
| centimetre (square centimetre) | cm (cm2) |
| chi-square | χ2 |
| cluster of differentiation | CD |
| coefficient of variation | CV |
| coenzyme A and its acyl derivatives | CoA and acyl-CoA |
| complementary DNA | cDNA |
| confidence interval | CI |
| Connaught Medical Research Laboratories (medium) | CMRL |
| coronary heart disease | CHD |
| coronavirus disease-2019 | COVID-19 |
| correlation coefficient | r |
| counts/minute; counts/second | cpm; cps |
| clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats | CRISPR |
| cyan fluorescent protein | CFP |
| Cycle threshold | Ct |
| cycles/second (frequency) | Hz |
| cyclic adenosine 3´,5´- monophosphate | cAMP |
| cyclic guanosine 3´,5´-monophosphate | cyclic GMP |
D
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| dates | 2 November 1998 |
| degrees, Celsius or centigrade | °C |
| degrees of freedom | df |
| deoxyribonuclease | DNase |
| deoxyribonucleic acid | DNA |
| Diabetes Control and Complications Trial | DCCT |
| 4´,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole | DAPI |
| dimethylsulphoxide | DMSO |
| disintegrations/minute | dpm |
| disintegrations/second | dps |
| dissociation constant | Kd |
| doses | avoid Latin designations (for instance, b. d. or t. i. d.) |
| Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium | DMEM |
E
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| 5-ethynyl-2´-deoxyuridine | EdU |
| electrocardiogram | ECG |
| electroencephalogram | EEG |
| enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay | ELISA |
| Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications | EDIC |
| epidermal growth factor | EGF |
| estimated glomerular filtration rate | eGFR (units are styled as ml/min per 1.73 m2) |
| ethylene diamime tetra-acetic acid | EDTA |
| ethylene glycol-O–O´-bis(2-amino-ethyl)-N, N, N´, N´-tetraacetic acid | EGTA |
| European Association for the Study of Diabetes | EASD |
| extracellular signal-regulated kinase | ERK |
F
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| fetal bovine serum | FBS |
| fetal calf serum | FCS |
| flavin adenine dinucleotide | FAD |
| flavin adenine dinucleotide (reduced form) | FADH2 |
| fluorescein isothiocyanate | FITC |
| fluorescence activated cell sorter | FACS |
| fractional disappearance rate | k |
| forward scatter | FSC (including FSC-A, FSC-H) |
| free fatty acids – not used; use non-esterified fatty acids | NEFA |
G
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| gas chromatography | GC |
| gas chromatography-mass spectrometry | GC-MS |
| glomerular filtration rate | GFR (units are generally styled ml/min per 1.73 m2) |
| glucose tolerance test | GTT |
| glucose transporter | GLUT |
| glutamic acid decarboxylase | GAD |
| glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies | GADA |
| glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase | GAPDH |
| gram | g |
| gravitational field, unit of | g |
| green fluorescent protein | GFP |
| guanosine 5´-phosphate | GMP |
| guanosine 5´-diphosphate | GDP |
| guanosine 5´-triphosphate | GTP |
H
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| haemoglobin A1 | HbA1 |
| haemoglobin A1c | HbA1c |
| haematoxylin and eosin | H&E |
| half-life | t1/2 |
| half maximal effective concentration | IC50 |
| half maximal inhibitory concentration | EC50 |
| hazard ratio | HR |
| hertz | Hz |
| high density lipoprotein | HDL |
| high performance liquid chromatography | HPLC |
| HLA nomenclature | Bodmer et al. (1997) |
| homeostatic model assessment | HOMA |
| homeostatic model assessment-beta cell function | HOMA-B |
| homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance | HOMA-IR |
| hour | h |
| human immunodeficiency virus | HIV |
| human leucocyte antigen | HLA |
| human umbilical vein endothelial cells | HUVECs Human Immunology 53: 98–128 |
| 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulphonic acid |
HEPES |
I
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| immunoglobulins A, D, E, G, M | IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, IgM |
| insulin autoantibodies | IAA |
| insulin-like growth factor | IGF |
| insulin-receptor substrate | IRS |
| insulin tolerance test | ITT |
| interferon | IFN |
| interleukin | IL |
| International Classification of Disease | ICD |
| International Diabetes Federation | IDF |
| interquartile range | IQR; Q1–Q3 also acceptable |
| intraperitoneal | i.p. |
| intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test | IPGTT |
| intraperitoneal insulin tolerance test | IPITT |
| intravenous | i.v. |
| intravenous glucose tolerance test | IVGTT |
| islet antigen-2 | IA-2 |
| islet antigen-2 autoantibodies | IA-2A |
| islet cell autoantibodies | ICA |
J
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| joule | J |
| Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (not strictly an abbreviation any more, as the organisation has changed its name to ‘JDRF’) | JDRF |
K
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| kilobase | kb |
| kilocalories | kcal |
| kilogram | kg |
| Krebs-Ringer buffer | KRB |
L
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| lipoproteins (serum) – high density | HDL |
| lipoproteins (serum) – low density | LDL |
| lipoproteins (serum) – very low density | VLDL |
| liquid chromatography | LC |
| liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry | LC-MS/MS |
| litre | l (write in full if confusion with numeral 1 possible) |
| logarithm (base 10) | log10 |
| logarithm (base e) | ln |
| low density lipoprotein | LDL |
M
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| magnetic resonance imaging | MRI |
| major histocompatibility complex | MHC |
| mass spectrometry | MS |
| maturity onset diabetes of the young | MODY |
| maximal oxygen consumption | V̇O2max |
| maximum velocity | Vmax |
| median effective dose | ED50 |
| median lethal dose | LD50 |
| messenger ribonucleic acid | mRNA |
| metre (square metre) | m (m2) |
| Michaelis constant | Km |
| micromole | µmol |
| micron (10–6 m) | µm |
| microRNA | miRNA |
| milliequivalents | not used; use: mmol/l |
| millilitre | ml |
| millimetre (millimetre squared) | mm (mm2) |
| millimetre of mercury | mmHg for blood pressure (1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa) |
| millimolar (concentration) | mmol/l (not mM) |
| millimole | mmol |
| milliosmole | mosmol |
| milliunit | mU |
| millivolt | mV |
| minute (60 seconds) | min |
| mitogen-activated protein kinase | MAPK |
| molar (concentration) | mol/l (not M) |
| mole | mol |
| molecular weight | mol. wt or Mr (not daltons) |
N
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| nanogram | ng |
| National Center for Biotechnology Information | NCBI |
| National Institute for Health and Care Excellence | NICE |
| National Institute for Health and Care Research | NIHR |
| National Institutes of Health | NIH |
| neutral protamine Hagedorn insulin | NPH insulin |
| nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide | NAD if oxidation state not indicated NAD+ if oxidized NADH if reduced |
| nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate | NADP if oxidation state not indicated NADP+ if oxidized NADPH if reduced |
| non-esterified fatty acid | NEFA |
| non-obese diabetic mouse | NOD mouse |
| not significant | NS |
| nuclear factor kappa beta | NF-κB |
| nuclear magnetic resonance | NMR |
| number in a sample | n |
O
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| odds ratio | OR |
| oral glucose tolerance test | OGTT |
| osmolality | express in osmol/kg or mosmol/kg |
| oxygen consumption | V̇O2 |
P
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| parts per million | ppm |
| pascal | Pa |
| peak oxygen consumption | V̇O2peak |
| per cent | % |
| phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase | PEPCK |
| phosphate-buffered saline | PBS |
| phosphorylated protein | p-[protein abbreviation/name] |
| picogram | pg |
| polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis | PAGE |
| polymerase chain reaction | PCR |
| polyvinylidene difluoride | PVDF |
| pressure | express in kPa (except for blood pressure and gas tensions) (1 kPa = 7.5 mm Hg) |
| probability of an event being due to chance alone | p |
| Protein kinase B | Akt |
R
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| radioimmunoassay | RIA |
| radioimmunoprecipitation assay buffer | RIPA buffer |
| randomised controlled trial | RCT |
| rate constant | k |
| relative risk | RR |
| respiratory quotient | RQ |
| restriction fragment length polymorphism | RFLP |
| reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction | RT-PCR |
| revolutions | rev |
| revolutions/minute | rev/min (not rpm) (use g if appropriate) |
| rhodamine isothiocyanate | RITC |
| ribonuclease | RNase |
| ribonucleic acid | RNA |
| RNA sequencing | RNA-seq |
| Roswell Park Memorial Institute medium | RPMI medium |
S
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| saline | do not use; give strength of solution (e. g. NaCl 154 mmol/l) |
| second (time) | s |
| side scatter | SSC (including SSC-A, SSC-H) |
| single nucleotide polymorphism | SNP |
| small interfering RNA | siRNA |
| sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis | SDS-PAGE |
| species (plural) | Spp. |
| species (singular) | Sp. |
| specific activity | sp. act. |
| standard deviation | SD |
| standard error | SE (but ask author if it should be changed to SEM, unless it is clearly stated what it is, e.g. SE of the estimate) |
| standard error of the mean | SEM |
| steroid nomenclature | see Eur J Biochem (1989) 186: 429–458 |
| subcutaneously | s. c. |
| sum | Σ |
T
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| terminal deoxynucleotidyl-transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labelling | TUNEL |
| tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate | TRITC |
| thyroxine (3,3´,5,5´ tetraiodothyronine) | T4 |
| time of day | e. g. 18:15 hours |
| transforming growth factor | TGF |
| transport rate (maximum) | Tm |
| triiodothyronine (3,3´,5- triiodothyronine) | T3 |
| tris-buffered saline | TBS |
| tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane | TRIS |
| tumour necrosis factor-α | TNF-α |
| two-dimensional/three-dimensional | 2D/3D |
W
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| waist-to-hip ratio | WHR |
| watt | W |
| wavelength | λ |
| wingless/Int-1 | Wnt |
| World Health Organization | WHO |
Z
| Definition | Abbreviation |
| zinc transporter 8 | ZnT8 |
| zinc transporter 8 autoantibodies | ZnT8A |