Increased plasma levels of the terminal complement complex in patients with evidence of complement activation.

The terminal C5b-9 complex of human complement has recently been described and quantified in normal human plasma by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We collected EDTA plasma samples from 20 patients clinically suspected to have complement activation. The terminal complement complex (TCC) and C3d split products were measured. The TCC was increased in 8 patients, and 6 of these also had increased C3d values, whereas 4 patients had increased C3d and normal TCC values. Two different double-antibody assays were used to detect terminal pathway activation: the combination of anti-C6 and anti-C9 detecting only the whole complex, and the combination of anti-C6 and anti-C5 detecting intermediate complexes as well. There was a close correlation between the observations in these two assays, suggesting that in general the whole cascade including C9 is involved when the terminal pathway of complement is activated in vivo. Quantification of TCC in plasma is an important supplement to already established methods for the evaluation of complement activation in vivo.