Low baseline complement levels could be associated with subsequent SLE flares according to seven studies [7–10, 35, 36, 38] but these results were not consistent with each other, depending on the complement fraction studied (C3 and/or C4 and/or CH50): C3 was found to be associated with flares in four studies [7, 9, 10, 36], whereas C4 was found to be associated in three studies [8, 10, 35] and CH50 in two studies [7, 38]. Here, C3 is linked to systemic lupus erythematosus.