title: Complement and the clinician.
abstract: The estimation of complement in serum, and in other body fluids, particularly synovial fluid, now has an established place in the assessment, prognosis and response to treatment of those diseases associated with immunological phenomena. Some knowledge of the complement sequence itself, the patterns characteristic of various disease processes and the interacting factors which may affect the levels of the various components have been summarised. Disease states closely resembling lupus erythematosus have been associated with genetically determined deficiencies of classic pathway components and deficiencies of terminal sequence components may lead to severe recurrent infections.
mesh_terms: D003095:Collagen Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D003172:Complement C1 / Q000378:metabolism; D003175:Complement C2 / Q000378:metabolism; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000378:metabolism; D003181:Complement C4 / Q000378:metabolism; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000172:deficiency / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D003172:Complement C1; D003175:Complement C2; D003176:Complement C3; D003181:Complement C4; D003165:Complement System Proteins