Life and health

Multi fate stem cell

Multi fate stem cell (CL:0000048), also called multipotent stem cell, is a Cell Ontology term for a stem cell giving rise to multiple cell lineages, exemplified by hematopoietic, mesenchymal, and neural stem cells.

Multi-cancer early detection

Multi-cancer early detection (MCED) is a screening approach that uses one blood test to look for signals of many cancer types at once in people with no symptoms.

Oct 20, 2026

Multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-TB, MDR/RR-TB): TB strains resistant to rifampicin and isoniazid; about 390,000 incident cases and 150,000 deaths in 2024, treated with 6-month BPaLM.

Multi-product terpene synthases

Multi-product terpene synthases are enzymes that convert one prenyl diphosphate substrate into many terpene products; grand fir γ-humulene synthase holds the record with 52 sesquiterpenes from a single substrate.

Multi-stage fitness test

Multi-stage fitness test (beep test, bleep test, PACER, Léger test, 20mSRT): a 20-metre progressive shuttle run to audio beeps estimating VO2max; validated by Léger and Lambert in 1982, validity r 0.66–0.84.

Multibacillary leprosy

Multibacillary (MB) leprosy, the severe pole of Hansen disease, defined by WHO as over five skin lesions, nerve involvement, or a positive slit-skin smear; treated with 12 months of rifampicin, clofazimine, and dapsone.

Multicellular organism

Multicellular organism: an organism of many adherent, communicating, often specialized cells. Evolved independently at least 45 times in eukaryotes via clonal development or aggregation; studied through snowflake yeast experiments and fossils from ~3.5 billion years ago.

Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial

MADIT (Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial), a 1996 University of Rochester randomized trial showing prophylactic ICDs cut mortality 54% in post-infarction patients; followed by MADIT II, MADIT-CRT, and MADIT-RIT.

Multicenter cohort study

A multicenter cohort study is an observational design recruiting and following a cohort at multiple centers under a common protocol, reaching larger samples to detect rare effects.

Multicentric reticulohistiocytosis

Multicentric reticulohistiocytosis (MRH), also called lipoid dermatoarthritis, is a rare non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis causing destructive arthritis and papulonodular skin lesions, associated with malignancy in about a quarter of cases.

Multicolor flow cytometry

Multicolor flow cytometry measures many fluorescent markers simultaneously on individual cells passing through lasers at tens of thousands per second, identifying and counting subpopulations in mixed samples.

Multicomponent Reductase Electron Transfer

Multicomponent reductase electron transfer: how NAD(P)H-dependent reductase systems, including P450 class I, soluble methane monooxygenase, and xanthine oxidase, pass electrons through flavin, iron-sulfur, and cytochrome cofactors to catalytic metal centers.

Multicopper oxidase

Multicopper oxidases (MCOs), including laccase, bilirubin oxidase, ascorbate oxidase, and ceruloplasmin, are copper enzymes with four Cu centers that oxidize substrates while reducing O2 to water.

Multicystic dysplastic kidney

Multicystic dysplastic kidney (MCDK, multicystic renal dysplasia) is a congenital condition where cysts replace kidney tissue, leaving it nonfunctional; usually unilateral, it involutes spontaneously and is managed conservatively.

Multidrug efflux pump subunit AcrA

AcrA (UniProt P0AE07) is the 42.2 kDa periplasmic adaptor protein of the E. coli AcrAB-TolC RND multidrug efflux pump, bridging AcrB and TolC in a 3:6:3 assembly that drives intrinsic antibiotic resistance.

Multidrug resistance protein MdtH

Multidrug resistance protein MdtH (gene mdtH, also yceL) is a 402-amino-acid major facilitator superfamily efflux transporter of Escherichia coli K-12 that confers resistance to norfloxacin and enoxacin and exports the anthocyanin C3G.

Multidrug resistance protein MexA

MexA (UniProt P52477) is the periplasmic adaptor protein of the MexAB-OprM RND multidrug efflux pump of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with MP, beta-barrel, lipoyl, and alpha-hairpin domains, forming a hexameric ring that bridges MexB and OprM.

Multifactorial Inheritance

Multifactorial inheritance, also called polygenic or complex inheritance, is trait inheritance involving multiple genes plus environmental factors; it underlies height, neural tube defects, diabetes, and hypertension without Mendelian patterns.

Multifetal pregnancy reduction

Multifetal pregnancy reduction (MFPR) is a first-trimester procedure that terminates one or more fetuses in a multifetal pregnancy to improve survival of the remaining fetuses.

Multifocal atrial tachycardia

Multifocal atrial tachycardia (MAT), also called chaotic atrial tachycardia, is an irregular arrhythmia with at least three P-wave morphologies at rates over 100 bpm, seen mostly in elderly COPD patients and treated first by correcting underlying causes.

Multifocal cerebral infarctions

Multifocal cerebral infarctions (ICD-11 8E64, postprocedural) are multiple ischemic brain infarcts in several arterial territories; 13% of strokes, usually cardioembolic, common after cardiac surgery, with vasculitis a key differential.

Multifocal ectopic Purkinje-related premature contraction

MEPPC (multifocal ectopic Purkinje-related premature contraction), also called multifocal ectopic premature Purkinje-related complexes, is a rare autosomal dominant SCN5A gain-of-function arrhythmia syndrome with high-burden narrow-QRS Purkinje PVCs, dilated cardiomyopathy, and sudden death risk; treated with flecainide or quinidine.

Multifocal electroretinography

Multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) is an electrophysiological technique that records electrical responses from many retinal regions at once, mapping cone function to detect maculopathies and hydroxychloroquine toxicity.

Multifocal infantile hemangioma with extracutenous involvement

Multifocal infantile hemangioma with extracutenous involvement, once called diffuse neonatal hemangiomatosis, is a rare disorder marked by numerous skin hemangiomas plus hemangiomas of internal organs such as the liver.

Multifocal Intraocular Lenses

Multifocal intraocular lenses (MIOLs), including bifocal, trifocal, refractive, and diffractive designs, are implanted IOLs giving near, intermediate, and distance vision after cataract surgery, trading reduced contrast sensitivity and halos for spectacle independence.

Multifocal lymphangioendotheliomatosis-thrombocytopenia syndrome

Multifocal lymphangioendotheliomatosis-thrombocytopenia syndrome (MLT), also called cutaneovisceral angiomatosis-thrombocytopenia syndrome, is a rare lymphatic disorder first described in 2004, with congenital skin and gastrointestinal vascular lesions that deplete platelets and bleed.

Oct 20, 2026

Multifocal motor neuropathy

Multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN), also called MMNCB, is a rare immune-mediated purely motor neuropathy with asymmetric distal upper-limb weakness, motor conduction block, anti-GM1 IgM antibodies in 40-50%, and IVIg as first-line therapy.

Multifocal pattern dystrophy simulating fundus flavimaculatus

Multifocal pattern dystrophy simulating fundus flavimaculatus (MPDSFF), also called pseudo-Stargardt pattern dystrophy, is a rare autosomal dominant PRPH2-related retinal pigment epithelium dystrophy with adult-onset yellow flecks, hyperautofluorescence, no dark choroid, and a better prognosis than Stargardt disease.

Multigene assay

A multigene assay is a diagnostic test combining the expression of multiple genes in a tumor into one score, used most often to guide chemotherapy decisions in early breast cancer.