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Serum Complement Component Levels in Human Glomerulonephritis
- EDMUND J. LEWIS, M.D.;
- CHARLES B. CARPENTER, M.D.; and
- PETER H. SCHUR, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Abstract
Serum total hemolytic complement (CH50) and complement components Clq, C4, and C3 were measured in patients with several forms of renal disease. The hypocomplementemia that accompanies active lupus nephritis was associated with low levels of all three components measured, whereas the hypocomplementemia associated with chronic membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis was usually related to depression of C3 protein only. Low serum hemolytic complement levels in acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis can be associated with depression of the early reacting components, Clq and C4 protein; however, isolated C3 depression also can be seen in this disease. Depression of Clq levels was frequently found in the nephrotic syndrome of childhood, despite normal levels of C4 protein and C3 protein. These results indicate that several disorders of the complement system exist in the diverse forms of renal disease that are associated with lowering of the serum level of one or more of the components of this system.
Article and Author Information
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▸From the Department of Medicine, Robert B. Brigham Hospital; Peter Bent Brigham Hospital; The Thorndike Memorial Laboratory, Boston City Hospital; and Harvard Medical School; Boston, Mass.
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Supported in part by grants AI 09542, AM 11414, AM 05577, AM 12051, and HE 11306, U.S. Public Health Service, Washington, D.C., and a grant from the Massachusetts Kidney Foundation, Boston, Mass. Dr. Carpenter is a recipient of a Career Development Award, U.S. Public Health Service.
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▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Edmund J. Lewis, M.D., Department of Medicine, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, 950 East 59th St., Chicago, Ill. 60637
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- Received February 25, 1971.
- Accepted June 17, 1971.
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