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Early Changes of the Complement System After Multiple Trauma in Humans
Author(s) -
Albers Sonja,
Burk A M,
Rittirsch Daniel,
Amara U,
Sarma J Vidya,
Ward Peter A,
Gebhard Florian,
HuberLang Markus
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.4.a640
Subject(s) - complement system , complement (music) , innate immune system , medicine , immunology , immune system , classical complement pathway , alternative complement pathway , inflammatory response , inflammation , biology , complementation , gene , phenotype , biochemistry
After multiple trauma, development of systemic inflammatory response and innate immune dysfunction have been described, reflected by disturbances of the cellular defense and uncontrolled activation of the complement system. However, little is known about the complement function during the early posttraumatic period (< 90 min after accident). Therefore, we investigated the complement status and function in sera from trauma victims (n=40 with an injury severity score of ISS=35.2 „b 3.1), obtained at the scene, immediately after admission in the emergency room (ER), 4h, 12h, 24h and 120h and 240h after trauma. There was a robust complement activation at the scene with significantly enhanced levels of the complement activation products C3a, C5a and MAC. While the serum levels of C3a were consistently elevated over the 10 day observation period, C5a and MAC concentrations dropped over time after the initial peak. There was also a significant loss of chemotactic activity up to 4h after injury. Complement function was assessed by the hemolytic activity of serum (CH50). At the scene, CH50 activity was impaired and virtually abolished in the ER, indicating consumption of complement within the first hours after trauma. Furthermore, a positive correlation between the loss of hemolytic activity at the scene and the 10 day outcome was found. In conclusion, the complement‐associated defence seems to be compromised rapidly after severe trauma, which may lead to the enhanced susceptibility and impairment of the innate immune response after trauma. This work was supported by NIH Grants No. GM‐61656, GM‐29507 and HL‐31963.