Meningococcal disease and the complement system

Meningococcal disease and the complement system

Despite considerable advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis of meningococcal disease, this infection remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally. The role of the complement system in innate immune defenses against invasive meningococcal disease is well established. Individuals deficient in components of the alternative and terminal complement pathways are highly predisp...

Investigation for complement deficiency following meningococcal disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The incidence of complement abnormalities in the UK is not known. It is suggested in at least three major paediatric textbooks to test for abnormalities of the complement system following meningococcal disease (MCD). METHODS Over a four year period, surviving children with a diagnosis of MCD had complement activity assessed. A total of 297 children, aged 2 months to 16 yea...

Meningococcal meningitis and complement deficiences

Results A hundred and twenty nine patients (69M:60F) were included in the study. The age of the patients ranged from 2 months (m) up to 64 years old (mean= 96.2m; median=48m). The following serogroups were identified: type C, 36.4%; B, 20.2%; W135, 1.5% and 41.9% had no serogroup identified. CH50 and AP50 values were below the reference levels in 48 patients (37.2%) and 97 patients (75.2%), and...

The complement system in ischemic heart disease.

The mechanisms by which tissue injury after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) occurs has not been fully elucidated. Recent evidence in experimental models has suggested involvement of the complement system in microvascular and macrovascular injury subsequent to AMI. With respect to angina pectoris, whether or not the complement system is activated is not clear. The present study assessed the ro...

Indirect Complement Fixation in Foot-and-Mouth Disease