COMPLEMENT

Complement was discovered many years ago as a heat-labile component of human blood plasma
that augments phagocytosis.
This activity was said to “complement” the antibacterial activity of antibody; hence, the name
complement.
It is now known that the complement system is composed of over 30 serum proteins that have a
complex (and somewhat confusing) nomenclature.
This system has three major physiological activities:
1. defending against bacterial infections by facilitating and enhancing phagocytosis
(through opsonization, chemotaxis, activation of leukocytes, and lysis of bacterial cell
walls);
2. bridging innate and adaptive immunity (augmentation of antibody responses,
enhancement of immunologic memory); and
3. disposing of wastes (immune complexes, the products of inflammatory injury, clearance
of dead host cells).
Complement Components
 The complement system comprises of about 30 serum proteins grouped into complement
components, the properdin system and the regulatory proteins.
 The complement components are named by numerals.
 There are nine components; C1 to C9. C1 has three subunits—C1q, C1r and C1s
 The properdin system and the regulatory proteins are named by letter symbols, e.g.
factor-B.
COMPLEMENT PATHWAYS
There are three pathways of complement activation:
1. Classical pathway: This is an antibody dependent pathway. Pathway is triggered by the
antigen–antibody complex formation
2. Alternative pathway: This is an antibody independent pathway, triggered by the antigen
directly
3. Lectin pathway: This is a recently described pathway. It resembles classical pathway, but it is
antibody independent.
Stages of complement activation
There are four main stages in the activation of any of the complement pathways.
1. Initiation of the pathway
2. Formation of C3 convertase
3. Formation of C5 convertase
4. Formation of membrane attack complex (MAC).
All the three pathways differ from each other in their initiation till formation of C3 convertase.
Then, the remaining stages are identical in all the pathways