World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

THE INTERPLAY OF COMPLEMENTS AND THEIR REGULATORS IN THE HUMAN BODY

Rao Muhammad Abid Khan*, Kulsoom, Ramsha Mukhtar, Muhammad Faisal, Muhammad Yaseen, Muhammad Shaheen Iqbal

ABSTRACT

An infection can be seen as a battle between the invading pathogens and the host. Human body is equipped with natural defenses to fight off these invading pathogens. Complement system is an evolutionary conserved arm of innate immunity to handle this tug of war by several means including labeling of bacteria with opsonins, facilitating phagocytosis through chemoattractants, bacterial lysis through pore formation and production of antibodies by switching innate to adaptive immunity. However, by no means it is explicitly fool proof. Nonspecific nature, over activation, polymorphism, genetic mutations, and alteration in self-cells (i.e. cancer) may result in unwanted complement-mediated damage to self-body. On the other hand, deficiencies in complement proteins result in high risk of getting frequent infections. Furthermore, complements are essential in maintaining homeostasis by coordinating inflammation, eliminating and recycling cellular debris, and maintaining apoptosis. Vigilant regulation of complement is essential to avoid self-harm to host body. One of the strategy for regulation is most of the complement proteins are synthesized as inactive precursors and each act as a triggered protease which successively cleaves other proteins in a cascade. Another manoeuvre is the group of charismatic proteins called regulators of complement activation (RCA). A number of soluble-circulating and membrane-bound RCA have been delineated so far in the literature. In this review, we describe the three complement pathways and interplay of complements and their soluble-circulating and membrane-bound regulators in the human body.

[Full Text Article]   [Download Certificate]