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Advanced Diagnostic Laboratories

SC5b-9 Level by EIA


Test Code

SC5B9

Description

The complement system is part of our innate immune response. It is vital to our defense against invasive microorganisms. Complement activation can occur through the classical, lectin and alternative pathway, which then converge to a common terminal pathway and assembly of C5b through 9 (C5b-9) on a cell surface or extracellular fluid phase. The fluid phase C5b-9 also known as the soluble C5b-9 (sC5b-9) is a reliable indicator of terminal pathway activation.

The sC5b-9 level can be elevated above normal levels in many conditions associated with inflammation, including infection,  renal diseases (IgA nephropathy, C3 glomerulonephritis) as well as thrombotic microangiopathies (TMAs) including shiga toxin-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome, atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS). Moreover, elevated concentrations of sC5b-9 are associated with development of transplant-associated TMA after stem cell transplant.