Presence of the terminal complement complex (C5b-9) precedes myelin degradation in immune-mediated demyelination of the rat peripheral nervous system.

In this study, the terminal complement complex C5b-9 (TCC) was localized by immunocytochemistry at different clinical stages of experimental autoimmune neuritis. Deposits of TCC were found on the surface of Schwann cells and their myelin sheaths, and to some extent in the extracellular space at predilective sites of impending demyelination before onset of clinical signs and for a short period thereafter. Additionally, TCC was deposited on the surface of W3/13 positive leukocytes. No TCC immunoreactivity was seen in the distal stump of transected sciatic nerves 1 to 15 days after axotomy. The early and transient deposition of TCC on Schwann cells and myelin sheaths in experimental autoimmune neuritis before overt demyelination suggests that complement activation plays a pathogenic role in the initiation of immune-mediated myelin damage. The lack of TCC immunoreactivity after nerve transection excludes a nonspecific activation process. The signals involved in local TCC formation in demyelinating peripheral nervous system disorders have yet to be explored.