Diseases associated with complement system dysregulation and the prospects of their treatment

Abstract

The lack of pharmaceutical agents that could modulate complement activation is one of the most serious problems in modern medical practice. Meanwhile, the complement system plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of numerous diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (degenerative eye disease, which is the main cause of blindness in the elderly), kidney diseases such as atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome and membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis type II, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (Marchiafava-Micheli disease), and hereditary angioedema. The complement and its components are involved in the development and progression of autoimmune pathological processes, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia; neurodegenerative and neoplastic diseases; and complications after heart attacks, strokes, and transplants. This review considers the involvement of complements in the pathological processes, existing methods of treatment, and the prospects for the development of drugs that can correct the work of complement - the most important component of innate immunity.