Complement activation in Lyme neuroborreliosis--increased levels of C1q and C3a in cerebrospinal fluid indicate complement activation in the CNS.
A strong initial inflammatory response is important in neuroborreliosis. Since complement is a main player in early inflammation, we monitored the concentration and activation of complement in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid from 298 patients, of whom 23 were diagnosed with neuroborreliosis. Using sandwich ELISAs, we found significantly elevated levels of C1q, C4, C3, and C3a in cerebrospinal fluid, but not in plasma, in patients with neuroborreliosis. This finding indicates that complement plays a role in the human immune response in neuroborreliosis, that the immunologic process is compartmentalized to the CNS, and that complement activation may occur via the classical pathway.
Henningsson
Anna J
AJ
Department of Infectious Diseases, Ryhov County Hospital, 551 85, Jönköping, and Division of Clinical Immunology, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Linköping University, Sweden. Anna.Henningsson.Jonsson@lj.se
Ernerudh
Jan
J
Sandholm
Kerstin
K
Carlsson
Sten-Anders
SA
Granlund
Hans
H
Jansson
Christian
C
Nyman
Dag
D
Forsberg
Pia
P
Nilsson Ekdahl
Kristina
K
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003167:Complement Activation; D015922:Complement C1q / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020852:Lyme Neuroborreliosis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D003176:Complement C3; D015922:Complement C1q