Advanced Diagnostic Laboratories (ADx)

Complement Laboratory

Director: Patricia C. Giclas, PhD
303-398-1217
giclasp@njhealth.org

The Complement Laboratory is both a diagnostic service laboratory for identifying patients with complement deficiencies, and a contract laboratory for performing tests in conjunction with clinical, pre-clinical (animals) and non-clinical (in-vitro) trials.

Abnormalities of the complement system include genetic deficiencies of individual components as well as decreases in complement activity due to in-vitro complement activation. The Complement Laboratory specializes in distinguishing between these two mechanisms when a patient presents with very low, or absent, complement activity.

The Complement Laboratory's testing services are available for studies designed to examine the effects of new products developed by pharmaceutical, biotech and biomaterials companies using methods compliant with GLP for non-clinical studies, FDA 21, CFR, Part 58. In-vitro testing of complement activation can be done in the laboratory using a variety of methods including a whole blood system for exposure of biomaterials. Specimens obtained during pre-clinical trials using non-human primates and other animal species can also be evaluated for complement activation under GLP.

Assays available include the hemolytic endpoint titrations for total classical pathway function (CH50), total alternative pathway function (AH50) and individual assays for each of the serum complement components (C1 - C9, FB, FD). The Laboratory also performs quantitative measurements for each of the circulating complement components (C1qrs, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, C8, C9, FB, FD, Properdin, FI, FH, C4BP, C1-INH, MBL) and split products (C4a, C4d, C3a, iC3b, Bb, C5a, SC5b-9) that result from complement activation.

Requisition and Specimen Handling

Download the complement requisition form (pdf).

Read serum and plasma collection, handling and shipping instructions.