Antigen Quantitation in Experimental Immune Complex Glomerulonephritis

[摘要] Acute serum sickness glomerulonephritis was induced in rabbits with radiolabeled bovine serum albumin (I*BSA) 250 mg/kg. The kidneys of these rabbits contained 1 to 35 µg of I*BSA following >;99% elimination of I*BSA from the circulation. The I*BSA disappeared from the kidneys with a half time of about 10 days. The severity of glomerulonephritis in these rabbits was related to the rapidity of of immune elimination and the amount of I*BSA deposited. As little as 0.25 µg/g of kidney of I*BSA could be detected by immunofluorescence. During the 8-day period following immune elimination the BSA detectable by immunofluorescence decreased rapidly while host immunoglobulin and complement increased. The continued presence of I*BSA in these kidneys shown by isotopic studies suggested that this BSA was being covered by host anti-BSA antibody and complement from the circulation. These immunofluorescence findings occurred during the time of resolution of the glomerulonephritis by histologic and functional criteria. This suggested that the immune complexes formed initially in antigen excess were nephritogenic while immune complexes deposited in an extravascular site were less phlogogenic in spite of continued interaction with antibody and complement.

[学科分类] 生物科学（综合）