Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34698894›Full record

ReviewSeminars in immunopathology2021

Tipping the balance: intricate roles of the complement system in disease and therapy.

Richard B Pouw, Daniel Ricklin

Open access · hybridAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Seminars in immunopathology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 97 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
97citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
8.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

97 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 153 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Increased MAP-1 and lectin complement activation capacity in Klinefelter syndrome.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article

37 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Richard B PouwMolecular Pharmacy Group, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, 4056, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0003-3469-8454
Daniel RicklinMolecular Pharmacy Group, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, 4056, Basel, Switzerland. d.ricklin@unibas.ch.ORCID 0000-0001-6140-0233
University of Basel · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The ability of the complement system to rapidly and broadly react to microbial intruders, apoptotic cells and other threats by inducing forceful elimination responses is indispensable for its role as host defense and surveillance system. However, the danger sensing versatility of complement may come at a steep price for patients suffering from various immune, inflammatory, age-related, or biomaterial-induced conditions. Misguided recognition of cell debris or transplants, excessive activation by microbial or damaged host cells, autoimmune events, and dysregulation of the complement response may all induce effector functions that damage rather than protect host tissue. Although complement has long been associated with disease, the prevalence, impact and complexity of complement's involvement in pathological processes is only now becoming fully recognized. While complement rarely constitutes the sole driver of disease, it acts as initiator, contributor, and/or exacerbator in numerous disorders. Identifying the factors that tip complement's balance from protective to damaging effects in a particular disease continues to prove challenging. Fortunately, however, molecular insight into complement functions, improved disease models, and growing clinical experience has led to a greatly improved understanding of complement's pathological side. The identification of novel complement-mediated indications and the clinical availability of the first therapeutic complement inhibitors has also sparked a renewed interest in developing complement-targeted drugs, which meanwhile led to new approvals and promising candidates in late-stage evaluation. More than a century after its description, complement now has truly reached the clinic and the recent developments hold great promise for diagnosis and therapy alike.

Indexed as

Complement ActivationComplement System ProteinsHumansComplement System ProteinsAutoimmune diseaseComplementComplement therapeuticsHemolysisInflammation

Identifiers

PMID34698894
PMCPMC8547127
OpenAlexW3208084365

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.