Reduced membrane attack complex formation in umbilical cord blood during Eculizumab treatment of the mother: a case report

BACKGROUND: Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a disorder of the microvasculature with hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia and acute kidney injury. Nowadays, aHUS is successfully treated with eculizumab, a humanized, chimeric IgG2/4 kappa antibody, which binds human complement C5 and blocks generation of C5a and membrane-attack-complex. CASE PRESENTATION: A 25-year-old woman with end stage renal disease due to relapsing atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome had a relapse of the disease during pregnancy. She was treated with eculizumab. We measured reduced formation of the membrane-attack complex in newborn’s umbilical cord vein blood using the sensitive and specific Palarasah-Nielsen-ELISA. CONCLUSIONS: Eculizumab treatment of the mother with end stage renal disease may cause reduced innate immunity which could render newborns more susceptible to infections.