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A conceptual view of the complement system.

The activities of the complement system encompass cell destruction either directly through the membrane attack complex or indirectly via the effects of inflammation. The effects of complement fragments on immune functioning are just now being elucidated. Recent advances in methodology have allowed recognition of complement deficiencies of both quantitative and structural varieties. Complement activation studies may detect subclinical activation and be useful guideposts for therapeutic intervention. Coupling our new understanding of the mechanisms of complement activation with new technologies to measure this activation may result in the better understanding of the pathology of inflammation and its concurrent immunologic reactions.

Complement Activation

Failure of the Congo red dye uptake test to discriminate between virulent and avirulent avian Escherichia coli.

Twenty avian Escherichia coli isolates from normal and diseased chickens were compared by use of three virulence tests. These tests included the uptake of Congo red dye, an embryo lethality test, and a quantitative microtiter complement resistance test. A direct correlation was seen between the results of the complement resistance test and the embryo lethality test. The results of the Congo red test did not correlate with the two other tests.

Animals

Preliminary note on the antipsychotic efficacy of bromperidol.

Bromperidol was administered to 20 acute and chronic psychotic inpatients during six to eight weeks at a mean daily dose of 18 to 10 mg. The neuroleptic was given orally or intramuscularly once a day (in the morning in order to evaluate its therapeutic and side effects). In 13 patients, bromperidol was substituted for haloperidol; in 7 cases, it was given immediately after the washout period. Descriptive psychopathology was complemented with quantitative psychopathology (ad hoc 29-item scale, AMDP Psychopathology Scale, Bf/Bf' Mood Scales). According to a preliminary analysis of data, both descriptive and psychometric, bromperidol seems to be a potent antipsychotic drug without disturbing adrenolytic side-effects or sedation, with classical extrapyramidal effects of the hypertonia type.

Adult

Expression of HLA-B27 antigens on mononuclear leucocytes in ankylosing spondylitis.

Differences in expression of HLA-B27 antigens on immune competent cells might play a role in the susceptibility to environmental factors which may be responsible for the initiation of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Using a quantitative complement-mediated lymphocytotoxity assay we determined the expression of HLA-B27 antigens on the membranes of mononuclear cells obtained from 20 patients with AS, four patients with other seronegative arthropathies and eight healthy controls. The variation in expression of B27 between individuals was quite extensive, but there was no significant difference in the mean titration curves obtained for each of the three groups. These findings suggest that the expression of HLA-B27 antigens on the membrane of mononuclear leucocytes does not play a role in the pathogenesis of AS.

Antigens, Surface

Quantitative relationships of the fourth complement component in human cerebrospinal fluid.

A technique for the measurement of cerebrospinal fluid C4 concentration in unconcentrated specimens has been developed with the methods of electroimmunodiffusion and immunofixation. The method has proved to be reproducible and requires only microliter volumes of undiluted cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The mean value for CSF C4 concentrations in 16 neurologically normal individuals was 325 +/- 32 mug/100 ml. A positive correlation between CSF C4 concentration and the concentration of CSF albumin and total protein was observed. The positive correlation between the concentrations of CSF C4 and albumin was, however, more clearly defined than the relationship of CSF C4 to total CSF protein.

Albumins

The acetylcholine system in the brain of cyclostomes with special references to the telencephalon.

The distribution of cholinergic neurons is studied in the brains of cyclostomes (Lampetra fluviatilis and Myxine glutinosa) representing an early stage of vertebrate evolution. Histochemical localization of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is complemented by quantitative determinations of acetylcholine (ACh), cholinacetyltransferase (ChAT) and AChE. The determinations are carried out in homogenates of whole brains, the brain regions telencephalon, diencephalon, mesencephalon and medulla oblongata. The telencephalon is further subdivided and studied in more detail.The transmitter distribution found in cyclostomes is compared to data from other vertebrates. Observations on the ACh-distribution in the telencephalon are discussed with the problems of identifying telencephalic homologies.

Acetylcholine

[Focus groups: preliminary experiences in educational health programs in Brazil].

Since 1989, the public health education section of the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, has been using the focus group technique to identify educational problems and evaluate programs being developed. The focus group is a research technique that allows qualitative data to be collected through group sessions involving 6 to 15 persons with some shared trait (for example, sex, age, occupation, role in the community). The group discusses various aspects of a specified subject. This paper describes five research projects in which this technique was used. The projects were carried out by professors in the School of Public Health/USP in the state of São Paulo between 1989 and 1992 with population groups and in health institutions. These experiences showed that the technique is efficient, permitting rapid identification and in-depth analysis of problems from the point of view of the population. Among the drawbacks to the technique is that it uses a small and nonrandom sample, which means that in certain cases focus groups should be considered a complement to quantitative studies. The data described here provide knowledge of perceptions, ideas, opinions, expectations, and social images-in short, the cultural and verbal universe of the population. With this information, educators and administrators can plan and evaluate education programs on the basis of the needs and views of the people they serve, putting into practice the plan to make education more democratic and responsive to the needs of its public.

Adult

Production of ultrastructural membrane lesions by the fifth component of complement.

A direct quantitative relationship has been demonstrated between the number of cell bound C4,2 complexes or C5 molecules and the number of ultrastructural lesions visualized on the cell membrane subsequent to immune hemolysis. When bound C4,2 complexes exceeded bound C5 molecules, the number of ultrastructural lesions seen corresponded to the number of C5 molecules. However, in the reverse situation, with bound C5 molecules in excess of bound C4,2 complexes, the latter determined the number of lesions. During the complement-reaction sequence, the lesions first became visible in the nonlytic intermediate complex EAC1,4,2,3,5 and their number was unaffected when lysis was induced by C6-C9. Since the lesions were also demonstrable on the intermediate complex EC5,6,7, it is concluded that the protein C5 is responsible for their production. Once formed, the physical presence of the C5 molecule is no longer required for the manifestation of the lesions as indicated by persistence of lesions after removal of C5 protein by trypsin. The C5-dependent ultra-structural phenomenon has therefore been interpreted to represent a true structural change of the membrane which, however, is not accompanied by a permeability defect.

Animals

Complement-dependent cell lysis assay for quantitation of rubella antibodies.

A comparison of the capacity to detect antibody titers to rubella virus was made between the complement-dependent cell lysis (CDCL) assay and the hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) test. Titers detected by CDCL assay correlated with the HAI test. Although the CDCL assay was less convenient to conduct, it proved to be more sensitive than the HAI test.

Antibodies, Viral

[Current overview of diagnostic possibilities of complement analysis].

The complement system is composed of at least 21 serum proteins and 8 cell surface receptors sensitive to complement components or their fragments. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of complement components in clinical samples has become standard procedure in many laboratories thanks to the availability of easy-to-perform test kits. However, interpretation of results is still a task that requires great skill and the situation are rare, in which analysis of the complement system goes beyond diagnosis into therapeutic consequences. The present paper is an update of previous similar reviews now available in the international literature; in addition, the author attempts at bringing the often complicated world of complement and clinical practice together and thus contributes to answering the question: what should the clinician know about complement?

Antigen-Antibody Complex

Anti-peripheral myelin antibody in patients with demyelinating neuropathy: quantitative and kinetic determination of serum antibody by complement component 1 fixation.

The role of anti-peripheral nerve myelin antibody (anti-PNM Ab) in the pathogenesis of acquired demyelination of peripheral nerve is unclear, in part, due to the poor correlation between antibody and disease activity. Previous studies show that only 27-50% of patients with acute demyelinating neuropathy or Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) had serum Abs to peripheral nerve or PNM as demonstrated by consumption of hemolytic activity of serum complement 1 (C1) fixation and transfer assay, quantitative determinations of anti-PNM Ab showed significantly high titers in the serum of patients with GBS, chronic and recurrent polyneuritis, and paraproteinemia associated with peripheral neuropathy. All 11 patients with acute-phase GBS had Ab titers 6-56 times higher than controls. In 6 GBS patients, serial Ab determinations showed that titers were highest on admission, fell rapidly the first week, and became undetectable or barely detectable by the third week. Declining Ab titers coincided with cessation of clinical progression. In 3 GBS patients, depletion of serum IgM lowered anti-PNM Ab titers significantly, whereas IgG depletion failed to produce a similar effect. This study shows that the C1 fixation and transfer assay is a sensitive method to detect anti-PNM Ab in the serum of patients with a variety of demyelinating neuropathies and provides good correlation between Ab level and the clinical course of GBS patients. It may provide important information about the pathogenesis of the demyelinating neuropathies.

Antibodies