SYNTHESIS OF TWO COMPONENTS OF HUMAN COMPLEMENT, β1 H AND C3bINA, DURING FETAL LIFE

Abstract

The levels of beta 1H and C3bINA were estimated in sera from human fetuses, cord and maternal samples. Both components of complement were detected in fetuses more than 12 weeks old. The serum concentrations tended to increase with the gestational age. The mean levels of beta 1H and C3bINA in cord sera were near 54 and 61% of the mean values in sera from normal adults. Elevated levels of beta 1H were observed in maternal sera at the end of the gestational period. When the levels of beta 1H and C3bINA were compared with those of two other components of complement, it was confirmed that the mean levels of C9 were low in fetal and newborn sera, while the serum concentrations of both C9 and Factor B were elevated in maternal samples. Newly synthesised beta 1H was detected in the culture fluids of fetal liver and peritoneal cells, as judged by the incorporation of labelled aminoacids and the autoradiography of he specific immunoprecipitates in agar gel.

Off to a slow start: Under-development of the complement system in term newborns is more substantial following premature birth

“…studied C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 Arinola et al (2003) T 55 67 Sonntag et al (1998a) T 125 76 106 Wolach et al (1997) T (>37 weeks) 1 48, 2 35, 3 23, 4 28, 5 15 1 70 2 58 3 95 4 36 5 55 Wolach et al (1994) T 1 47, 2 30, 3 17 1 72 2 55 2 97 2 38 3 50 Lassiter et al (1992) T 14 <20 Adinolfi et al (1981) T 28 18 Johnson et al (1983) b T 100 79 (64) 44 (31) 120 (91) 38 (29) Ueda et al (1980) Davis et al (1979) T 1 0 7 5 4 7 Adinolfi and Beck (1975) T To analyse complement components, radial immunodiffusion is the method used in all of the above studies except that of Johnson et al (1983), in which C5 was analysed using electroimmunoassay and C7 was analysed using immunoelectrophoresis. a Hogasen et al (2000) in which C9 is analysed using ELISA.…”

“…The family of three ficolins (L, H and M) are Notarangelo et al (1984) T 25 Johnson et al (1983) T 100 87 (55) 54 (37) 120 (144) 50 (55) Adinolfi et al (1981) T 24 73 Shapiro et al (1981) T 1 1 9 7 6 1 Ueda et al (1980) Drew and Arroyave (1980) T 11 59 33 Strunk et al (1979) b T 20 60 36 71 Davis et al (1979) T 10 49 53 Feinstein and Kaplan (1975) T 51 80 53 Adinolfi and Beck (1975) T 22 47 Wagner et al (1996) P/T (median 38.5 weeks) 12 48 a Miyano et al (1996) P/T (mean 33.6 weeks) 131 31 a Adamkin et al (1978) P/T ( To analyse complement components, radial immunodiffusion is the method used in all of the above studies except where # indicates these values were determined by ELISA method. a Value calculated from data using adult reference value stated in Shapiro et al (1981).…”

“…However, the choice of the adult serum used for comparison raises an important cautionary note at this point. In some investigations, the neonatal levels were compared to the maternal levels at birth, but two studies that compared maternal component levels to non-pregnant normal controls found that maternal levels are greatly elevated for many components, which would result in an under-estimate when used as the denominator for neonatal level ratios (Adinolfi et al 1981;Johnson et al 1983). Almost all maternal component concentrations were increased by 26-57% relative to non-pregnant adults, with the exception of C1q, C1r, C1inhibitor, properdin, and factor D, which were decreased in maternal serum.…”

“…Sonntag et al (1998a) -percentages have been calculated using mid-range values from newborn and adult reference ranges.To analyse complement components, radial immunodiffusion is the method used in all of the above studies except where indicated: RIA = radio immunoassay, LRE = Laurell rocket immunoassay, IE = immunoelectrophoresis Cat et al (1993). only listed the values as a range of normal serum values.a The values in parentheses were compared to maternal serum, which are not identical to normal serum levelsJohnson et al (1983) andAdinolfi et al (1981).…”

Complement control protein factor H: The good, the bad, and the inadequate

“…Factor H (formerly known as β1H) is an abundant serum glycoprotein that is expressed constitutively in the liver (Adinolfi et al, 1981; Schwaeble et al, 1987) and can be also expressed locally by a variety of cell types including retinal pigment epithelial cells, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, platelets, and mesenchymal stem cells, among others (Brooimans et al, 1990; Chen et al, 2007; Licht et al, 2009; Sakaue et al, 2010; Tu et al, 2010). The serum concentration of factor H is ~ 500 μg/ml, although it can vary widely from 116–562 μg/ml depending on genetic and environmental factors (Esparza-Gordillo et al, 2004; de Cordoba and de Jorge, 2008).…”