W. Olahomukani et al., STUDIES ON THE HEMOLYTIC COMPLEMENT OF THE DROMEDARY CAMEL (CAMELUS-DROMEDARIUS) .2. ALTERNATE COMPLEMENT PATHWAY HEMOLYTIC-ACTIVITY IN SERUM, Veterinary immunology and immunopathology, 48(1-2), 1995, pp. 169-176
Fresh camel serum caused lysis of unsensitised red blood cells (RBC) o
f chicken, rabbit and guinea pig. Homologous RBC were resistant to lys
is. There was only minimal lysis of goat, sheep, rat and cattle RBC. L
ysis of heterologous RBC was attributed to the presence of alternate c
omplement activity (ACP) in the serum as adsorption with respective RB
C and addition of 10 mM ethylene glycol-bistetraacetate (EGTA) in the
SVBS diluent did not abrogate the haemolytic activity. Guinea pig RBC
were the most sensitive to lysis, giving a mean ACP activity of 41.5 /- 1.8 CH50 units ml(-1). Clotting, followed by storing of blood betwe
en 0 and 37 degrees C for 1 h did not significantly affect ACP activit
y. However, considerable activity was lost when blood was clotted and
stored at 44 degrees C for 1 h, or when serum was kept at 4 degrees C
for 24 h. Treatment with zymosan, or incubation at 56 degrees C for 30
min inhibited ACP activity. Maximum ACP activity occurred in the pres
ence of 8 mM Mg2+ in the SVBS-EGTA diluent, at pH 7.3 and incubation t
ime of 2 h at 37 degrees C. Levels of ACP activity were determined in
79 healthy camels of different age groups, ranging from 3 months to 15
years. Calves between 3 months and I year of age had higher ACP activ
ity than camels in the age group of 5 years and above. Highest mean AC
P activity of 89 +/- 7.9 CH50 units ml(-1) were recorded in 1-5 year o
ld camels (P < 0.0001). The lowest ACP activity was observed in the 10
-15 year old camels (52 +/- 2.9 CH50 units ml(-1)). There was no signi
ficant difference in the ACP activity between the sexes.