Ae. Platonov et al., HETEROZYGOUS C8-BETA COMPLEMENT DEFICIENCY DOES NOT PREDISPOSE TO MENINGOCOCCAL DISEASE, Clinical and experimental immunology, 108(3), 1997, pp. 497-499
We have identified 42 Russian patients with homozygous C8 beta complem
ent component deficiency, all of whom had experienced at least one epi
sode of systemic meningococcal disease. About 90% of these individuals
have a C-->T exchange in exon 9, leading to a premature stop codon. I
f, like the homozygous-deficient state, heterozygous C8 beta deficienc
y constitutes a risk factor for meningococcal disease, it would be exp
ected to be detected with increased frequency among individuals suffer
ing from this disease. Using allele-specific polymerase chain reaction
(PCR), we studied 153 consecutive patients with meningococcal disease
admitted to the Moscow Hospital for Infectious Diseases to determine
the frequency of C8 null allele. No individuals with heterozygous C-->
T exchange were identified among these 153 patients, despite the fact
that seven persons were detected who had homozygous C8 beta deficiency
, caused by the same C-->T exchange in exon 9, and one patient who had
C7 component deficiency. Thus, heterozygous deficiency, although more
frequent than homozygous deficiency in the general population, does n
ot result in a substantial increase in susceptibility to meningococcal
disease.