[Novel approaches to the study of autoregulation of alternative complement pathway]

Experimental and literary data on the peculiarities of complement alternative pathway (APC) self-regulation and regulation are reviewed. There is a discussion of the methods of APC evaluation, including a new one, called complement hemolytical capacity. It is shown that the duration of complement-dependent hemolysis lag-period is limited by factor D concentration. The phenomenon of acceleration of APC-dependent hemolysis by membranes of lysed cells is described. The latter is an evidence of APC functioning in the mode of double amplification.