Immune complexes are molecules formed by combining an antigen with antibodies, sometimes additionally from the so-calledgenitive.
An antigenis a substance that can trigger a response by the immune system and attach to antibodies.
Antibodiesare the most important molecules in the immune system that can bind to an antigen. Antibodies are involved in protecting the body against infection, and in some situations may be responsible for the development of disease states.
Complement(or compliment) is one of the elements of the immune system, it interacts with antibodies. The task of the complexes is to inhibit or stimulate the immune response.
In some diseases, immune complexes can build up in the walls of the tiny blood vessels of the skin, kidneys, and joints and damage these organs.
There are two types of pathological reactions depending on the action of the complexes.
The first type is the development of a pathological reaction at the site of antigen injection or penetration, e.g. after injection of the antigen (drug) into the blood, in which antibodies capable of binding this antigen circulate, inflammation develops at the injection site after 4-8 hours, characterized by the development of erythema,edemaand, in some cases, skin necrosis.
Another example of this type of reaction is the so-called extrinsicallergic alveolitis– farmers ‘lung, disease of carpenters and paper mill workers, disease of detergent workers, millers’fever, disease of brewers, disease of cheese makers, disease of lumberjacks uncorking clones, disease of pigeon breeders, disease of mushroom breeders. In the case of these diseases, the antigens are organic dust particles in the air of the working environment (e.g. molds, proteins found in bird excreta, bacteria, actinomycetes microspores, etc.).
By inhalation, organic dust gets into bronchioles and alveoli, where they combine with antibodies produced during previous contact with these antigens. The formed complexes initiate inflammation in the alveoli.
The second type of reaction consists of complexes circulating in the blood, which accumulate in various tissues, initiating inflammatory processes in them.This type of reaction leads, inter alia, to the development of the so-calledserum sickness. Clinical symptoms appear 4–14 days after the administration of the so-called a foreign protein, e.g. anti-tetanus serum.
The deposition of immune complexes in the blood vessels of the skin, joints, and glomeruli can lead to the development of certain types of glomerulonephritis, systemic lupus, vasculitis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
The material on which the immune complexes are determined is blood. The examination does not require any prior special preparation of the examined person. As in other laboratory tests, blood is collected on an empty stomach.
What are the contraindications for the study?
There are no contraindications for the test.
What complications may occur after the test is performed?
The correct blood collection procedure protects the patient and the medical staff against the possibility of infection.
The only possible adverse events are slight blood extravasation around the place where a blood vessel has been punctured (bruise). This symptom reduces pressure on the puncture site immediately after surgery.