title: Elevation of the terminal complement activation products C5a and C5b-9 in ALS patient blood.
abstract: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease, characterized by the progressive loss of motor neurons within the central nervous system. Neural degeneration and inflammatory processes, including activation of the complement system are hallmarks of this pathology. Our past work in ALS animal models (hSOD1 G93A rodents) has revealed that blockade of the receptor for complement activation fragment C5a (C5aR), improves ALS-like symptoms and extends survival. We now show that the levels of C5a and C5b-9, but not C3a nor C4a, are significantly elevated in plasma from ALS patients compared to healthy controls. C5a was also elevated within leukocytes from ALS patients suggesting heightened C5a receptor interaction. Overall, these findings indicate that there is enhanced peripheral immune complement terminal pathway activation in ALS, which may have relevance in the disease process.
authors.affiliation: School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mantovani
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Macmaw
authors.forename: C M M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Pfluger
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Noakes
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: McCombe
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Woodruff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D000706:Anaphylatoxins / Q000378:metabolism; D015936:Complement C5a / Q000378:metabolism*; D015938:Complement Membrane Attack Complex / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D000706:Anaphylatoxins; D015938:Complement Membrane Attack Complex; D015936:Complement C5a