Guinea pigs with inherited deficiencies of complement components C2 or C4 have characteristics of immune complex disease.

In Vitro Studies of Complement Function in Sera of C4-deficient Guinea Pigs

In vitro studies were performed utilizing sera from a strain of guinea pigs with a total absence of hemolytically active C4. Previous studies in these animals have demonstrated normal complement-dependent inflammatory reactions, suggesting that they are able to bypass their deficiency of C4. In vitro studies with C4-deficient serum also indicate normal activation of late-acting C components. Th...

Complement components (C1, C2, C3, C4) in bronchial secretions after intranasal infection of guinea pigs with Mycoplasma pneumoniae: dissociation of unspecific and specific defense mechanisms.

Shortly after intranasal infection of guinea pigs with Mycoplasma pneumoniae, the titers of the complement components increased significantly in bronchial secretions by the folllowing amounts, compared with the titer of a control group: C1, about 2-fold; C2, 1.6-fold; C3, 17-fold; and C4, 942-fold. Histopathological signs of inflammation were not apparent at this time. At 2 weeks after infectio...

Glomerulonephritis associated with deficiencies and polymorphisms of complement components encoded in the class III region of the MHC.

An association between the complement system and immune complex glomerular disease in humans has long been recognized. In fact, much of our early understanding of the immunochemistry of complement activation developed with the study of acute and chronic glomerulonephritis (1). This manuscript will examine associations between glomerulonephritis and the three complement components encoded within...

IgG and complement-mediated tissue damage in the absence of C2: evidence of a functionally active C2-bypass pathway in a guinea pig model.

In vitro complement-mediated lysis of heavily sensitized sheep erythrocytes by C4-deficient (C4D) guinea pig and C2-deficient (C2D) human sera was demonstrated some years ago. It was postulated that these "complement-bypass" pathways resulted from activation of C1 and components of the alternative pathway. We used normal, C2D, and C4D guinea pigs in a Forssman shock model to test the in vivo re...

Evaluation of Humoral Immune Response to Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccination in Experimentally Infected Guinea Pigs with Trypanosoma evansi