IMMUNE-COMPLEX DISEASE .7. EXPERIMENTAL MESANGIOPATHIC GLOMERULONEPHRITIS PRODUCED BY CHRONIC IMMUNIZATION WITH THYROGLOBULIN

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  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 38  (4) , 404-408
Abstract
Immunohistologic and EM studies were performed on the kidneys of rabbits given daily i.v. injections of porcine thyroglobulin in amounts adjusted to the immune response of the individual rabbits. Glomerular lesions were restricted to the mesangium, were characterized by varying degrees of proliferation of mesangial cells and increase of mesangial matrix and were accompanied by accumulations of rabbit immunoglobulins, C3 [3rd component of complement] and porcine thyroglobulin. Electron-dense deposits were localized to the mesangium and the adjacent subendothelial space. Less than 10% of the animals with mesangial lesions developed obvious impairment of glomerular function. Thyroglobulin-containing immune complexes were rapidly removed from the mesangium, so that overloading of the mesangium and consequent accumulation of complexes in the adjacent capillary loops could not occur. When immune complex deposition is restricted to the mesangium, relatively little interference with glomerular function results. This situation is paralleled in man by the lesions of subclinical lupus nephritis, chance proteinuria and hematuria and the early lesions of Berger''s disease.

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