Component C3 high, C4 low

Hi:

I have a lot of strange symptoms (chest pain, muscle pain, joint pain, postural tremors and some vision problems hard to describe) since January 2012 (yes, almost a year).

Several normal blood tests were performed and everything went normal.

One month ago, a WBC count was of 4700; although still in range, my baseline (comparing to other blood tests performed before) was 6000 approx.

One week ago, my doctor asked a lot of tests: Anti ssDNA,  p-ANCA, c-ANCA, Anti Sclero 70, Anti CCP, and C3 and C4 components.

Everything got normal (discarding lupus), except C3: 216 (normal ranges are between 84 and 193) and C4: 19 (normal ranges are between 20 and 40 in this lab).

Looking in the web I did not find a lot of information about such scenario, just some sites telling me that a high C3 is sign of inflammation and other sites suggesting Ulcerative colitis and cancer.

So, what do you think? What tests do you consider I should perform to rule out other diseases? Any comments on my tremors and joint and muscle pains?

Thanks a lot!

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi!
Well, the value of C4 can be considered almost normal. A high C3 indicates an acute or a chronic inflammatory condition. Since C4 is marginally low, possibilities of an autoimmune disorder such as lupus (probably ruled out as your antibodies panel is normal), recurrent bacterial and viral infections (especially streptococcal and EBV or mono), inflammation of kidney or inflammatory bowel disorders should be looked into. Please discuss with your treating doctors. Take care!

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi!
Well, the value of C4 can be considered almost normal. A high C3 indicates an acute or a chronic inflammatory condition. Since C4 is marginally low, possibilities of an autoimmune disorder such as lupus (probably ruled out as your antibodies panel is normal), recurrent bacterial and viral infections (especially streptococcal and EBV or mono), inflammation of kidney or inflammatory bowel disorders should be looked into. Please discuss with your treating doctors. Take care!