A targeted complement will cure what ails you

Main Category: Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 27 Aug 2005 - 4:00 PDT

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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, Stephen 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:
Stephen Tomlinson
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC USA
View the PDF of this article at:
the-jci.org/article.php?id=25208

Stacie Bloom
press_releases@the-jci.org
212-342-4159
Journal of Clinical Investigation
http://www.jci.org

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