A simple method for quantitative measurement of C3d in human plasma.

We describe a simple and reliable method for quantitating C3d in human plasma. The method rests on the finding that native C3 and its activation/inactivation product C3c bind to Concanavalin A, whereas C3d does not. Rocket affinoimmunoelectrophoresis with Con-A Sepharose incorporated into an intermediate gel permits quantitation of free C3d in 2-20 microliters aliquots of EDTA-plasma without any manipulation prior to sample application. Using this method, we found that the level of circulating C3d in plasma of 30 healthy donors was usually well below 3% of maximally convertable C3d.