[The changes of complement activities in sera of mice after subcutaneous administration of beryllium chloride]

We studied changes of the complement pathway activities and the content of C3 in sera of mice, administered BeCl2 (containing 5 micrograms of Be per mouse) or CuCl2 (containing 5 micrograms of Cu per mouse) by a single subcutaneous injection. The value of the classical complement pathway activity (CH50) of the Be group 3 days after administration was significantly higher than that of the control group (P < 0.001). It was significantly lower than in the control group after 7 days (P < 0.001). On the other hand, the CH50 value of the Cu group 3 hr after administration tended to increase, however, it was significantly lower than in the control group after 7 days (P < 0.01). The change of the alternative complement pathway activity (ACH50) value of the Be group was similar to the change of the CH50 value of the group. The ACH50 value of the Cu group 3 days after administration tended to increase but it was the same as the ACH50 value of the control group after 7 days. The C3 contents of both the Be and Cu groups 3 days after administration were significantly higher than in the control group (P < 0.001). The aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity of the Be group 7 days after administration was significantly higher than that of the control group (P < 0.01). By contrast, AST activity of the Cu group 3 hr after administration was significantly higher than in the control group (P < 0.05). The value of the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity of the Be group was low (P < 0.01), but that of the Cu group was high (P < 0.05), 3 hr after administration. These values of both groups after 7 days, however, were significantly higher than in the control group (P < 0.05). The AST/ALT ratio in mice was very high at 3 hr, and it remained high by 7 days after Be injection. On the other hand, the ratio of the Cu group was almost constant for 7 days after Cu injection. Thus, these values changed with relative expedition after Be injection. Therefore, we confirmed that measurements of complement activities and the content of C3 were valuable indices for assaying acute effects of Be on mice.