Meningococcal disease is caused by Neisseria meningitidis which is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Recurrences of
meningococcal infection have been observed in patients with terminal
complement component defects, because of the inefficient formation of the lytic
membrane attack complex (MAC),
C5b-9.
Complement component C7 is one of the five
plasma proteins to form the MAC. The gene C7 may carry mutations that cause functional abnormalities or the mere absence of the C7
protein. More than 200 patients were screened for aberrant C7
protein by isoelectric focusing (C7 IEF). These were compared with patients in whom recurrent
meningococcal infection had resulted in the diagnosis of complete C7 absence (C7Q0). A higher proportion of C7 IEF variants were found in
meningitis cases compared to controls (p=0.03). In contrast to C7Q0 patients, recurrent
meningococcal infection was never observed in C7 IEF cases. Whereas C7Q0 sera were defective in meningococcal serogroup B and W135 killing assays, the sera of patients with C7 IEF variants were only defective in
complement-mediated killing when classical pathway activation by (endogenous) anti-meningococcal
antibodies was blocked. Upon sequence analysis we characterized the genetic background of the C7*6 and C7*8 IEF pattern and identified three novel C7 gene mutations in 13 C7Q0 patients. In conclusion, C7 IEF variants can determine meningococcal killing in the early stage of
infection when antibody-independent killing prevails. The results endorse the lack of clinical recurrences once
antibodies are present, whereas in C7Q0 patients the anti-meningococcal
antibodies may not suffice to protect from recurrent
meningococcal infection.