Low-dose recombinant properdin provides substantial protection against Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis infection

Modern medicine has established three central antimicrobialtherapeutic concepts: vaccination, antibiotics, and, recently, theuse of active immunotherapy to enhance the immune responsetoward specific pathogens. The efficacy of vaccination and anti-biotics is limited by the emergence of new pathogen strains andthe increased incidence of antibiotic resistance. To date, immuno-therapy development has focused mainly on cytokines. Here wereport the successful therapeutic application of a complementcomponent, a recombinant form of properdin (P