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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

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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

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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 cGMP

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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

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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-bis(2-amino-ethyl)-N, N, N´, N´-tetraacetic acid EGTA
European Association for the Study of Diabetes EASD
extracellular signal-regulated kinase ERK

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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K

Definition Abbreviation
kilobase kb
kilocalories kcal
kilogram kg
Krebs-Ringer buffer KRB

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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

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M

Definition Abbreviation
magnetic resonance imaging MRI
major histocompatibility complex MHC
mass spectrometry MS
maturity onset diabetes of the young MODY
maximal oxygen consumption O2max
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)

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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

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O

Definition Abbreviation
odds ratio OR
oral glucose tolerance test OGTT
osmolality express in osmol/kg or mosmol/kg
oxygen consumption O2

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P

Definition Abbreviation
parts per million ppm
pascal Pa
peak oxygen consumption O2peak
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

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Q

Definition Abbreviation
quantitative insulin sensitivity check index QUICKI

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R

Definition Abbreviation
radioimmunoassay RIA
radioimmunoprecipitation assay buffer RIPA buffer
randomised controlled trial RCT
rate constant k
relative risk/risk ratio 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

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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

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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

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U

Definition Abbreviation
unit U

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V

Definition Abbreviation
versus vs
very low density lipoprotein VLDL
volt V

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W

Definition Abbreviation
waist-to-hip ratio WHR
watt W
wavelength λ
wingless/Int-1 Wnt
World Health Organization WHO

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Z

Definition Abbreviation
zinc transporter 8 ZnT8
zinc transporter 8 autoantibodies ZnT8A

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