Skip to main content
PMC home page
Clinical and Experimental Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Experimental Immunology
. 1972 Jul;11(3):311–320.

Complement studies in membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis

D K Peters, Angela Martin, A Weinstein, J S Cameron, T M Barratt, C S Ogg, P J Lachmann
PMCID: PMC1553661  PMID: 4625395

Abstract

Detailed studies of the complement system were carried out in fifteen patients with membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. The findings of reduced levels of C3 and C7 and of circulating breakdown products of C3 in fresh plasma suggested in vivo complement activation. Low C3 levels were associated with the presence of a serum factor (the C3 nephritic factor C3NeF) which was capable of breaking down C3 in normal serum in vitro. Metabolic studies using radioactive iodine labelled C3 showed no evidence of accelerated in vivo breakdown of parenterally administered C3 suggesting that hypocomplementaemia is either maintained by diminished C3 synthesis or that accelerated catabolism is occurring in a pool that does not freely exchange with parenterally given C3. The C3 nephritic factor has so far only been identified in patients with membranoproliferative nephritis and is therefore of major diagnostic significance in patients with glomerular disease.

Full text

PDF
314

Images in this article

315Fig. 2
on p.315

Selected References

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

  1. Alper C. A., Rosen F. S. Alper CA, Rosen FS: Studies of the in vivo behavior of human C'3 in normal subjects and patients. J Clin Invest. 1967 Dec;46(12):2021–2034. doi: 10.1172/JCI105691. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Boenisch T., Alper C. A. Isolation and properties of a glycine-rich beta-glycoprotein of human serum. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1970 Dec 22;221(3):529–535. doi: 10.1016/0005-2795(70)90224-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bokisch V. A., Müller-Eberhard H. J., Cochrane C. G. Isolation of a fragment (C3a) of the third component of human complement containing anaphylatoxin and chemotactic activity and description of an anaphylatoxin inactivator of human serum. J Exp Med. 1969 May 1;129(5):1109–1130. doi: 10.1084/jem.129.5.1109. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cameron J. S., Glasgow E. F., Ogg C. S., White R. H. Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis and persistent hypocomplementaemia. Br Med J. 1970 Oct 3;4(5726):7–14. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5726.7. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Churg J., Habib R., White R. H. Pathology of the nephrotic syndrome in children: a report for the International Study of Kidney Disease in Children. Lancet. 1970 Jun 20;760(1):1299–1302. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(70)91905-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gewurz H., Pickering R. J., Naff G., Snyderman R., Mergenhagen S. E., Good R. A. Decreased properdin activity in acute glomerulonephritis. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol. 1969;36(6):592–598. doi: 10.1159/000230780. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gewurz H., Pickering R. J., Snyderman R., Lichtenstein L. M., Good R. A., Mergenhagen S. E. Interactions of the complement system with endotoxic lipopolysaccharides in immunoglobulin-deficient sera. J Exp Med. 1970 Apr 1;131(4):817–831. doi: 10.1084/jem.131.4.817. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Haupt H., Heide K. Ioslierung und Eigenschaften eines beta 2-Glykoproteins aus Humanserum. Clin Chim Acta. 1965 Oct;12(4):419–424. doi: 10.1016/0009-8981(65)90130-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lachmann P. J., Thompson R. A. Reactive lysis: the complement-mediated lysis of unsensitized cells. II. The characterization of activated reactor as C56 and the participation of C8 and C9. J Exp Med. 1970 Apr 1;131(4):643–657. doi: 10.1084/jem.131.4.643. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Müller-Eberhard H. J. Chemistry and reaction mechanisms of complement. Adv Immunol. 1968;8:1–80. doi: 10.1016/s0065-2776(08)60464-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Oliveira B., Osler A. G., Siraganian R. P., Sandberg A. L. The biologic activities of guinea pig antibodies. I. Separation of gamma1 and gamma2 immunoglobulins and their participation in allergic reactions of the immediate type. J Immunol. 1970 Feb;104(2):320–328. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Pickering R. J., Herdman R. C., Michael A. F., Vernier R. L., Gewurz H., Fish A. J., Good R. A. Chronic glomerulonephritis associated with low serum complement activity (chronic hypocomplementemic glomerulonephritis). Medicine (Baltimore) 1970 May;49(3):207–226. doi: 10.1097/00005792-197005000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Pickering R. J., Wolfson M. R., Good R. A., Gewurz H. Passive hemolysis by serum and cobra venom factor: a new mechanism inducing membrane damage by complement. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1969 Feb;62(2):521–527. doi: 10.1073/pnas.62.2.521. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Reid K. B. Complement fixation by the F(ab')2-fragment of pepsin-treated rabbit antibody. Immunology. 1971 May;20(5):649–658. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Sandberg A. L., Osler A. G., Shin H. S., Oliveira B. The biologic activities of guinea pig antibodies. II. Modes of complement interaction with gamma 1 and gamma 2-immunoglobulins. J Immunol. 1970 Feb;104(2):329–334. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Spitzer R. E., Vallota E. H., Forristal J., Sudora E., Stitzel A., Davis N. C., West C. D. Serum C'3 lytic system in patients with glomerulonephritis. Science. 1969 Apr 25;164(3878):436–437. doi: 10.1126/science.164.3878.436. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Tedesco F., Lachmann P. J. The quantitation of C6 in rabbit and human sera. Clin Exp Immunol. 1971 Sep;9(3):359–370. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Thompson R. A. C3 inactivating factor in the serum of a patient with chronic hypocomplementaemic proliferative glomerulo-nephritis. Immunology. 1972 Jan;22(1):147–158. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Thompson R. A., Lachmann P. J. Reactive lysis: the complement-mediated lysis of unsensitized cells. I. The characterization of the indicator factor and its identification as C7. J Exp Med. 1970 Apr 1;131(4):629–641. doi: 10.1084/jem.131.4.629. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Vallota E. H., Forristal J., Spitzer R. E., Davis N. C., West C. D. Characteristics of a non-complement-dependent C3-reactive complex formed form factors in nephritic and normal serum. J Exp Med. 1970 Jun 1;131(6):1306–1324. doi: 10.1084/jem.131.6.1306. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Westberg N. G., Naff G. B., Boyer J. T., Michael A. F. Glomerular deposition of properdin in acute and chronic glomerulonephritis with hypocomplementemia. J Clin Invest. 1971 Mar;50(3):642–649. doi: 10.1172/JCI106534. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Clinical and Experimental Immunology are provided here courtesy of British Society for Immunology

RESOURCES