title: Complement activation in the aqueous humor of pseudophakic bullous keratopathy patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  According to some studies, inflammation is a potential etiological factor in pseudophakic bullous keratopathy (PBK). Our aim was to obtain information on the activation of the complement system in the aqueous humor in this disorder.
  
  
  METHODS
  Aqueous humor samples were collected during keratoplasty of 12 PBK patients, as well as during phacoemulsification surgery of 18 control patients. The concentrations of the protein-protein complexes generated during complement activation (C1rC1sC1inh and C3bBbP) through the classical and alternative pathways, respectively, as well as of the C3 cleavage product C3a, were measured with ELISA methods. The correlation among the complement factors and between the duration of the edema, the stage of the disease, and the level of the complement activation products was examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The concentration of C1rC1sC1inh, C3bBbP complex and C3a was significantly higher in the PBK group (p < 0.001) compared to the control group. In PBK patients, a correlation was found between the levels of the C1rC1sC1inh complex and C3a only.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our new findings indicate that in PBK the complement system is activated - via the classical pathway - in the aqueous humor. The activated complement may play a role in increased endothelial cell loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. fag@freemail.hu
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Füst
authors.forename: Dorottya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Csuka
authors.forename: Ildikó
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Süveges
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Imre
authors.forename: Mária
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bausz
authors.forename: Attila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagymihály
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Csorvási
authors.forename: György
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Füst
authors.forename: János
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Németh
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001082:Aqueous Humor / Q000276:immunology*; D003167:Complement Activation / Q000502:physiology*; D015923:Complement C1r / Q000378:metabolism*; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019591:Pseudophakia / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D003176:Complement C3; D015923:Complement C1r