Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Annals of Surgery logoLink to Annals of Surgery
. 1980 Mar;191(3):323–329. doi: 10.1097/00000658-198003000-00011

Complement, Opsonins, and the Immune Response to Bacterial Infection in Burned Patients

Ann B Bjornson, William A Altemeier, H Stephen Bjornson
PMCID: PMC1344703  PMID: 6767453

Abstract

Studies were performed to evaluate complement, opsonins, and the immune response to bacterial infection in burned patients. Concentrations and functional acitivities of components of the classical and alternative complement pathways were measured in the sera of four septic, two bacteremic, and four nonseptic burned patients. In addition, heat-labile and heat-stable opsonic activity and agglutinin titers directed against the infecting bacterial strains were measured in the sera of the four septic patients and in an additional group of 11 septic burned patients with abnormal complement profiles. Functional activity of the alternative complement pathway and the concentration of properdin were shown to be persistently decreased during eight weeks postburn in the septic, bacteremic, and nonseptic burned patients; reduced classical pathway activity was demonstrated during the initial postburn period only in the septic patients. Two of the 15 septic patients had decreased heat-labile serum opsonic activity for their infecting bacterial strains, which occurred only during the initial postburn period. Heat-stable opsonins and agglutinin titers in the patients' sera directed against the infecting bacterial strains were equivalent to those in normal human sera, except for the agglutinin titers to Streptococcus faecalis which were increased in the patients' sera in comparison to the normal sera. These results indicate that the multiple complement abnormalities which occur in septic burned patients do not predispose these patients to bacterial infection by decreasing serum opsonic activity. Moreover, heat-stable immune IgG antibodies are not produced during septicemia which facilitate opsonization of the infecting bacterial strains in the absence of an intact complement system.

Full text

PDF
323

Images in this article

326Fig. 1.
on p.326
326Fig. 2.
on p.326

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Alexander J. W., Fisher M. W., MacMillan B. G., Altemeier W. A. Prevention of invasive pseudomonas infection in burns with a new vaccine. Arch Surg. 1969 Aug;99(2):249–256. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.1969.01340140121018. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Alexander J. W., Moncrief J. A. Alterations of the immune response following severe thermal injury. Arch Surg. 1966 Jul;93(1):75–83. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.1966.01330010077011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bjornson A. B., Altemeier W. A., Bjornson H. S. Changes in humoral components of host defense following burn trauma. Ann Surg. 1977 Jul;186(1):88–96. doi: 10.1097/00000658-197707000-00012. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bjornson A. B., Altemeier W. A., Bjornson H. S., Tang T., Iserson M. L. Host defense against opportunist microorganisms following trauma. I. Studies to determine the association between changes in humoral components of host defense and septicemia in burned patients. Ann Surg. 1978 Jul;188(1):93–101. doi: 10.1097/00000658-197807000-00016. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bjornson A. B., Altemeier W. A., Bjornson H. S. The septic burned patient: a model for studying the role of complement and immunoglobulins in opsonization of opportunist micro-organisms. Ann Surg. 1979 Apr;189(4):515–527. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fearon D. T., Austen K. F. Activation of the alternative complement pathway due to resistance of zymosan-bound amplification convertase to endogenous regulatory mechanisms. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Apr;74(4):1683–1687. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.4.1683. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Götze O., Müller-Eberhard H. J. The C3-activator system: an alternate pathway of complement activation. J Exp Med. 1971 Sep 1;134(3 Pt 2):90s–108s. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. HIRSCH J. G., STRAUSS B. STUDIES ON HEAT-LABILE OPSONIN IN RABBIT SERUM. J Immunol. 1964 Jan;92:145–154. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kohn J. Abnormal immune response in burns. Postgrad Med J. 1972 Jun;48(560):335–337. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Mancini G., Carbonara A. O., Heremans J. F. Immunochemical quantitation of antigens by single radial immunodiffusion. Immunochemistry. 1965 Sep;2(3):235–254. doi: 10.1016/0019-2791(65)90004-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Markley K., Smallman E., Evans G. Antibody production in mice after thermal and tourniquet trauma. Surgery. 1967 Jun;61(6):896–903. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Miller C. L., Trunkey D. D. Thermal injury: defects in immune response induction. J Surg Res. 1977 Jun;22(6):621–625. doi: 10.1016/0022-4804(77)90100-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. NILSSON U. R., MUELLER-EBERHARD H. J. ISOLATION OF BETA IF-GLOBULIN FROM HUMAN SERUM AND ITS CHARACTERIZATION AS THE FIFTH COMPONENT OF COMPLEMENT. J Exp Med. 1965 Aug 1;122:277–298. doi: 10.1084/jem.122.2.277. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rapaport F. T., Bachvaroff R. J. Kinetics of humoral responsiveness in severe thermal injury. Ann Surg. 1976 Jul;184(1):51–59. doi: 10.1097/00000658-197607000-00009. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Ruley E. J., Forristal J., Davis N. C., Andres C., West C. D. Hypocomplementemia of membranoproliferative nephritis. Dependence of the nephritic factor reaction on properdin factor B. J Clin Invest. 1973 Apr;52(4):896–904. doi: 10.1172/JCI107254. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sachs A. Active immunoprophylaxis in burns with a new multivalent vaccine. Lancet. 1970 Nov 7;2(7680):959–961. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(70)92130-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Schreiber R. D., Müller-Eberhard H. J. Fourth component of human complement: description of a three polypeptide chain structure. J Exp Med. 1974 Nov 1;140(5):1324–1335. doi: 10.1084/jem.140.5.1324. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. West C., Davis N. C., Forristal J., Herbst J., Spitzer R. Antigenic determinants of human beta-1c and beta-1g-globulins. J Immunol. 1966 Apr;96(4):650–658. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of Surgery are provided here courtesy of Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins

RESOURCES