Life and health

Somatic cell

Somatic cells are any body cells in an organism other than reproductive germ cells, such as skin or neurons, which contribute to the body and not offspring.

Somatic cell count

Somatic cell count (SCC), or bulk tank SCC, counts white blood cells per milliliter of milk as an indicator of udder health and mastitis; limits range from 400,000 cells/mL (EU) to 750,000 (US).

Somatic delusion (ICD-11 MB26.09; delusional disorder, somatic type in DSM-5): a fixed false belief of disease, defect, or infestation of the body, seen in delusional disorder, schizophrenia, mood psychosis, and substance- or medical-induced psychosis.

Somatic embryogenesis

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is a plant tissue culture process in which somatic cells form embryos without fertilization, first demonstrated in carrot in 1958 and used for clonal propagation.

Somatic experiencing

Somatic Experiencing (SE), developed by Peter A. Levine, is a body-oriented trauma therapy using interoception, titration, and pendulation; first RCT (Brom 2017) showed large PTSD symptom reductions, but overall evidence remains preliminary.

Oct 20, 2026

Somatic hallucinations

Somatic hallucinations (ICD-11 MB27.25) are false perceptions of internal bodily sensations, such as organs moving, without external stimuli; bodily or proximity-sense hallucinations, less common than auditory ones (4-19% in psychosis) and usually multimodal.

Somatic mutation analysis

Somatic mutation analysis is the sequencing of tumor DNA to identify acquired, non-inherited mutations for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and targeted therapy selection, typically by paired tumor-normal testing.

Somatic nervous system

Somatic nervous system (SoNS): PNS division for voluntary movement and sensory input via skeletal muscles; 12 cranial and 31 spinal nerve pairs, single-neuron efferent path releasing acetylcholine, distinct from the two-neuron autonomic system.

Somatic stem cell

Somatic stem cell, also called adult stem cell: a multipotent, self-renewing cell in almost all adult tissues, driving regeneration and homeostasis; distinct from pluripotent embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells.

Somatic symptom disorder

Somatic symptom disorder (SSD), a DSM-5 diagnosis introduced in 2013, replaces DSM-IV somatoform disorders and hypochondriasis; distinguished from illness anxiety disorder by the presence of distressing somatic symptoms with excessive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors lasting six months or more.

Somatization

Somatization: expressing emotional distress as physical symptoms, historically tied to hysteria and Briquet's syndrome; now DSM-5 somatic symptom disorder and ICD-11 bodily distress disorder, treated mainly with CBT.

Somatomammotropinoma

Somatomammotropinoma (somatolactotropinoma, GH and PRL cosecreting pituitary adenoma, ORPHA:314769) is a rare mixed pituitary adenoma cosecreting growth hormone and prolactin, causing combined acromegaly and hyperprolactinemia.

Oct 20, 2026

Somatomotor neuron

Somatomotor neuron (somatic motor neuron, CL:0005024) is a cholinergic, excitatory motor neuron innervating skeletal muscle, subdivided into alpha, beta, and gamma types, and distinct from visceromotor autonomic neurons.

Somatorelin

Somatorelin (GHRH(1-44) amide, somatoliberin) is the 44-residue human hypothalamic growth hormone-releasing hormone; its synthetic acetate, GHRH Ferring, was a 50 µg diagnostic pituitary test (ATC V04CD05) whose manufacture stopped in 2022.

Somatosensory Evoked Potentials

Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs, also written SSEPs) are electrical responses recorded from the nervous system after peripheral nerve stimulation, used to diagnose lesions, predict outcome, and monitor surgery.

Somatosensory stimulation

Somatosensory stimulation applies electrical stimuli to the body's sensory pathways to assess nervous system function or treat chronic pain and spasticity, spanning techniques from TENS to spinal cord stimulation.

Somatosensory system

Somatosensory system: the nervous system's network for touch, temperature, pain, and proprioception, carried by dorsal column-medial lemniscal and spinothalamic pathways to the somatosensory cortex.

Somatostatin

Somatostatin (SRIF), a cyclic peptide hormone discovered in 1973, inhibits growth hormone, insulin, glucagon, and digestive secretions via five GPCR subtypes; analogs like octreotide treat acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumors.

Somatostatin analog therapy

Somatostatin analog therapy uses long-lasting synthetic versions of the hormone somatostatin, such as octreotide and lanreotide, to control hormonal symptoms and slow tumor growth in acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumors.

Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy

Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) is a nuclear medicine scan using radiolabeled octreotide to image neuroendocrine tumors; introduced in 1992, it was superseded by SSTR PET.

Somatostatinoma

Somatostatinoma: an extremely rare somatostatin-secreting neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas or duodenum (about 1 in 40 million incidence), causing diabetes, gallstones, and steatorrhea in a minority of cases.

Somatotropin

Somatotropin, also called growth hormone (GH), hGH, or somatropin, is a 191-amino-acid, 22 kDa anterior pituitary hormone regulating growth and metabolism; deficiency causes short stature, excess causes gigantism and acromegaly.

Somatrem

Somatrem (methionyl human growth hormone, met-rGH), marketed as Protropin by Genentech and Somatonorm in Europe, was the first recombinant biotech drug made and marketed by a biotech company, FDA-approved October 1985 for childhood growth hormone deficiency and discontinued in the 2000s.

Somatrogon

Somatrogon (Ngenla) is a long-acting recombinant human growth hormone fusion protein with three hCG CTP copies, given once weekly at 0.66 mg/kg for pediatric growth hormone deficiency; FDA-approved June 2023.

Somite

Somites are paired blocks of mesoderm that form along the developing axis of vertebrates. They give rise to the vertebral column, skeletal muscle, and skin structures.

Somitogenesis

Somitogenesis is the rhythmic formation of paired somites from the presomitic mesoderm in vertebrate embryos, paced by the Notch-based segmentation clock (HES7, LFNG) and positioned by WNT, FGF, and retinoic acid gradients under the clock and wavefront model; periods range from 30 minutes in zebrafish to 8 hours in humans.

Somnolence

Somnolence, also called drowsiness, is the state of wanting to fall asleep; severe, lasting cases are called excessive daytime sleepiness, affecting 4–20% of the population.

SONABRE study

SONABRE study: SOutheast Netherlands Advanced BREast cancer Registry (NCT03577197), an observational cohort of advanced breast cancer patients since 2007 in 11 Dutch hospitals, known for real-world receptor discordance and survival time-trend studies.

Sonchus

Sonchus (sow thistles), genus of about 98-99 Asteraceae species in tribe Cichorieae, native Old World to Australia and Pacific islands; wild greens, medicines, fodder, and major weeds such as S. oleraceus.