MICROVUETMCH50 Eq EIA

The binding of C1q component of C1 to immune complexes triggers the classical complement pathway. This activation results in a cascade of enzymatic and non-enzymatic reactions, culminating in the formation of terminal complement complexes (TCC) . Under standard conditions the level of TCC that can be generated in a serum is a quantitative expression of the serum’s total classical complement activity. The traditional method for measuring the total classical complement activity in serum is the CH50 test. This test is a lytic assay, which uses antibody-sensitized sheep erythrocytes (EA) as the activator of the classical complement pathway and various dilutions of the test serum to determine the amount required to give 50% lysis. The percent hemolysis is determined spectrophotometrically. The CH50 test is an indirect measure of TCC, since the TCC themselves are directly responsible for the hemolysis that is measured. The MICROVUETM CH50 Eq EIA provides a direct measure of the total classical complement activity in serum by quantifying the amount of TCC generated under standard conditions. The MICROVUE CH50 Eq EIA uses a monoclonal antibody to a unique neoantigen to capture the TCC analyte. Since both the CH50 Eq EIA and the CH50 test rely on the generation of TCC and correlate, the CH50 Eq EIA’s results are expressed in CH50 unit equivalents per milliliter.