autophagia

autophagia definition - medical

au·to·pha·gia (ôˌtə-fāˈjə)

noun
  1. The biting of one's own flesh.
  2. or au·toph·a·gy (ô-tŏfˈə-jē) The segregation and disposal of damaged organelles within a cell.
  3. or autophagy The maintenance of the nutrition of the whole body by metabolic consumption of some of the body tissues.

Related Forms:

  • auˌto·phagˈic (-făjˈĭk) adjective

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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