title: Function of serum complement in drinking water arsenic toxicity.
abstract: Serum complement function was evaluated in 125 affected subjects suffering from drinking water arsenic toxicity. Their mean duration of exposure was 7.4 ± 5.3 yrs, and the levels of arsenic in drinking water and urine samples were 216 ± 211 and 223 ± 302 μg/L, respectively. The mean bactericidal activity of complement from the arsenic patients was 92% and that in the unexposed controls was 99% (P < 0.01), but heat-inactivated serum showed slightly elevated activity than in controls. In patients, the mean complement C3 was 1.56 g/L, and C4 was 0.29 g/L compared to 1.68 g/L and 0.25 g/L, respectively, in the controls. The mean IgG in the arsenic patients was 24.3 g/L that was highly significantly elevated (P < 0.001). Arsenic patients showed a significant direct correlation between C3 and bactericidal activity (P = 0.014). Elevated levels of C4 indicated underutilization and possibly impaired activity of the classical complement pathway. We conclude reduced function of serum complement in drinking water arsenic toxicity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Laila N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: M Shamim Hasan
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Zahid
authors.forename: A H M Nurun
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Nabi
authors.forename: Mahmud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hossain