Complement component c1q and anti-c1q antibodies in theory and in clinical practice.
The complement system is a major part of the innate immunity. The first component of the classical pathway of complement activation, C1q, plays a crucial role in the clearance of immune complexes and apoptotic bodies from the organism. Autoantibodies against C1q (anti-C1q) have been found in a number of autoimmune and infectious diseases. They have been best described in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, where they are thought to play a pathogenic role in lupus nephritis (LN). Their high negative predictive value for the occurrence of active proliferative LN, as well as their possible ability to indicate a renal flare as soon as 6 months in advance, have rendered anti-C1q antibodies a novel non-invasive tool in the detection of active LN.
Potlukova
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Third Clinic of Medicine, General Teaching Hospital, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. eliska.potlukova@seznam.cz
Kralikova
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D000818:Animals; D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex / Q000276:immunology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015922:Complement C1q / Q000276:immunology*; D003171:Complement Pathway, Classical; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D008181:Lupus Nephritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology
D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D001323:Autoantibodies; D015415:Biomarkers; D015922:Complement C1q