Publication details
Complement activation products in patients with common variable immunodeficiency
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2006 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Scipta Medica (Brno) |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Immunology |
| Keywords | Hypogammaglobulinemia; Common variable immunodeficiency; Complement system; Complement activation |
| Description | Complexes of antigen and antibody participate in activation of the complement system. The goal of our study was to determine whether decrease in serum immunoglobulin levels in patients with hypogammaglobulinemia leads to abnormalities in complement activation. The levels of complement activation products C4d and the C5-9 complex were determined by ELISA in 30 patients with the most frequent primary hypogammaglobulinemia - common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) and in a control group of 60 (for C4d) and 40 healthy persons (for the C5-9 complex). All patients with CVID were treated by intravenous immunoglobulin in a dose of 250 - 500 mg/kg every 3 - 4 weeks. The patients had no symptoms of acute inflammatory process at the time of blood collection. The levels of the complement activation products were correlated with the serum levels of IgG (at the time of diagnosis and at the time of blood sampling) and also with the number of acute infections during the year prior to the study. No significant difference in serum levels of C4d in CVID patients and healthy controls was observed. When evaluating the serum level of the C5-9 complex, a highly significant decrease in serum levels of this complement product was observed in patients with CVID. We did not observe any correlations between serum IgG levels, the number of infections, and levels of the complement activation products measured. Also, no correlation was observed between the clinical state of the patients and the levels of the activation complement products. Our results show possible alteration in complement activation in hypogammaglobulinemic patients which may be caused by decreased complement activation by complexes antigen-antibody. |