SLE and Serum Complement: Causative, Concomitant or Coincidental?

Conclusion: Complement activation plays a key role in the pathophysiology of SLE and it is recommended to continue monitoring serum levels of C3 and C4 to assess for disease activity. However, it is important to note that decreased serum complement is not consistently associated with disease flares.It is clinically important to find novel ways to assess disease activity in SLE. Reduced serum levels of cell-bound complement activation products may more accurately reflect disease activity than conventional serum C3 and C4 monitoring. PMID: 29290848 [PubMed]
Source: Open Rheumatology Journal - Category: Rheumatology Tags: Open Rheumatol J Source Type: research