Increased anaphylatoxins (C3a and C4a) in psoriatic sera

We measured C3a and C4a anaphylatoxins in the serum of 56 psoriatic patients and 36 healthy control subjects by radioimmunoassay in order to clarify the mechanism of complement activation occurring in psoriatic lesions. Whereas a small amount of anaphylatoxins were demonstrable even in the sera of healthy adults, the serum concentrations of C3a and C4a anaphylatoxins were significantly higher in psoriatic patients than those in non-psoriatic controls. The increased serum anaphylatoxin levels did not correlate well with either the extent or the activity of the skin lesions, but a comparison of anaphylatoxin levels in 10 patients before and after successful treatment of skin lesions showed that the serum anaphylatoxin levels decreased with improvement of the skin lesions. Our results suggest that complement activation takes place in psoriatic patients chiefly via the classical pathway.