Table 1.

Studies examining concentrations of complement (C) components in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients compared with control subjects.

Reference	C component measured	Sample type	Significant alteration in concentration compared with controls
Kuwert et al. 1965 [127]	C3/C4	CSF	Reduced
Link 1972 [128]	C3/C4	CSF	No difference
Dube et al. 1973 [129]	C3/C4	CSF	Increased
Yam et al. 1980 [130]	C3/C4	CSF	C3: increased
			C4: no difference
Price et al. 1980 [131]	C3/C4	CSF	In relapse: no difference
			In remission: decreased
Jans et al. 1984 [71]	C3/C4	CSF/serum	Serum and CSF C3: no difference
			Serum C4: increased (P = 0·05)
			CSF C4: reduced (P < 0·01)
Jongen et al. 2000 [72]	C3/C4	CSF/serum	Serum C3: reduced in RRMS and SPMS
			CSF C3: reduced in RRMS
			Serum and CSF C4: no difference
Sellebjerg et al. 1998 [76]	C3 and TCC	CSF/plasma	C3: no difference
			CSF TCC: increased and levels correlated with disability (P = 0·003)
Morgan et al. 1984 [73]	C9	CSF/plasma	Reduced in CSF
			No difference in plasma
Compston et al. 1986 [132]	C9	CSF/plasma	Reduced in CSF
			No difference in plasma
Sanders et al. 1986 [78]	TCC	CSF	Increased
Mollnes et al. 1987 [77]	TCC	CSF/serum	Increased in CSF
			No difference in serum
Rodriguez et al. 1990 [74]	C9	CSF	No difference
Halawa et al. 1989 [75]	C9	CSF	No difference

CSF, cerebrospinal fluid; RRMS, relapsing–remitting multilpe sclerosis; SPMS, secondary progressive multiple sclerosis; TCC, terminal complement complex.