0000000000218468
AUTHOR
Bernd Zanker
An inherited deficiency of the third component of complement, C3, in guinea pigs
Hereditary deficiency of the third component of complement, C3, is found very seldom in the human. C3 deficiency is associated with severe bacterial infections revealing the central role of C3 in complement activation via the classical or alternative pathway. We describe a new hereditary C3 deficiency in strain 2 guinea pigs. Serum from these animals had a markedly reduced lytic activity in a standard assay for complement-dependent, antibody-mediated cytotoxicity. In functional assays of individual components, the hemolytic activity of the components C4, C2, C5 and of factors B, D and H was in the normal range. The functional C3 titer, and similarly C3 antigenic activity in the serum of the…
Influence of Macrophage Activation on the Synthesis of Complement Components C2, C3, C4
Macrophages are a major site of complement synthesis. In the guinea pig production of complement components C1, C2, C4, C3, D, B, and P by peritoneal macrophages has been demonstrated (reviewed in Ref. 1). Whereas marked differences exist in biological activity between resident, elicited and activated macrophages (2), we investigated whether this holds true for the synthesis and secretion of complement components C2, C3, and C4.