What does C3 mean in a blood test?
What does C3 mean in a blood test?
What does C3 mean in a blood test?
C3. Complement C3 is a blood test that measures the activity of a certain protein. This protein is part of the complement system. The complement system is a group of nearly 60 proteins that are in blood plasma or on the surface of some cells.
Can C3 levels change?
As part of your immune system, C3 levels can be altered by infections and inflammatory diseases.
What does it mean when your C3 complement is low?
If only your C3 complement level is low and all other complement components are normal, it’s usually because of an inherited component deficiency. This makes it more likely that you will develop certain autoimmune disorders. More often, you will have low levels of several complement components at once.
What causes low C3?
Decreased C3 may be associated with acute glomerulonephritis, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, immune complex disease, active systemic lupus erythematosus, septic shock, and end-stage liver disease.
Why would C3 be elevated?
Your complement levels will often rise very high just after an infection or injury. When your complement system responds to ongoing disease such as lupus, levels usually go down. You can inherit a deficiency in your complement C3. But it’s much more common to acquire a deficiency.
What does low C3 level mean?
Low levels of C3 associated with low levels of C4 demonstrate classical pathway activation and strongly suggest immune complex disease. They are found most commonly in cases of active SLE.
What is C3 disease?
Complement 3 glomerulopathy (C3G) is a rare kidney disease that has two forms: dense deposit disease (DDD) and C3 glomerulonephritis (C3GN). Each is caused by genetic or acquired problems in controlling the body’s complement system, which helps fight infections. Genetic problems can be inherited or not inherited.
What is considered a low C3 complement?
The normal range for a complement C3 blood test is 80 to 160 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), or 0.8 to 1.6 grams per liter (g/L). Your complement levels will often rise very high just after an infection or injury. When your complement system responds to ongoing disease such as lupus, levels usually go down.
What does low C3 levels mean?
What is C3 deficiency?
Disease definition. Complement component 3 deficiency is a rare, genetic, primary immunodeficiency characterized by susceptibility to infection (mainly by gram negative bacteria) due to extremely low C3 plasma levels.