A targeted complement will cure what ails you

[Guest guest]

published an article about using Complement C3 before Rituxan,

if I recall correctly, because Rituxan diminishes the level of C3 in

the blood. Here's more, for what it's worth.

Ann

A targeted complement will cure what ails you

27 Aug 2005

The pathogenesis of many inflammatory, autoimmune and ischemic

diseases are due to inappropriate activation of the complement

system - proteins found in blood that help destroy bacteria and other

foreign cells. Complement inhibitors are now used therapeutically but

there are unresolved questions regarding their clinical use.

Complement activation products are important for host defense and

regulation of the immune system, and thus complement inhibition may

compromise this protection.

In a study appearing online on August 25 in advance of print

publication of the September 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical

Investigation, Tomlinson and colleagues from the Medical

University of South Carolina show that appropriate targeting of

complement inhibition to sites of complement activation and disease

can improve bioavailability and increase efficacy without

systemically inhibiting complement. They do this by using mouse

models of intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and of acute

infection.

By not systemically inhibiting complement, complement-dependent host

defense is not compromised. The targeting strategy involved a novel

technique and provided protection from injury in the lung, where

complement-dependent injury occurs following intestinal I/R.

Currently available complement inhibitory drugs systemically inhibit

complement and are not optimal. This new targeting strategy is a step

forward for developing better complement inhibitors.

TITLE:Targeted complement inhibition by C3d recognition ameliorates

tissue injury without apparent increase in susceptibility to infection

AUTHOR:

Tomlinson

Medical University of South Carolina, ton, SC USA

View the PDF of this article at:

the-jci.org/article.php?id=25208

Stacie Bloom

press_releases@...

212-342-4159

Journal of Clinical Investigation

http://www.jci.org