1980 Volume 11 Issue 2 Pages 161-170
Anthelmintic drug levamisole, clinically used as an immunopotentiator, has been shown to restore the decreased cellular immune response. In this experiment, levamisole was found to increase serum complement level either in guinea pig or in human without malignancy, investigated by hemolytic assay using sensitized sheep erythrocytes (EA) for the classical pathway activity and unsensitized rabbit erythrocytes (RaE) for the alternative pathway activity. Assay of complement components revealed a mild increase in Clq, C4, C3, C9, and C1-inhibitor, while no specific tendency was observed in C5, properdin and C3 activator. Although leva misole provided no effect upon serum complement activation in vitro, these evi dences suggested that levamisole might potentiate immune response of the host by elevating serum complement level.
