Allergic Glomerulonephritis Induced in the Rabbit with Heterologous Renal Antigens*,$ by Emil

The immunization of experimental animals with heterologous or homologous renal antigens usually leads to the production of antikidney antibodies and, in some instances, to the development of glomerulonephritis. Early reports on the induction of glomerulonephritis by immunization of rats with renal antigens mixed with streptococcus (1) could not be confirmed (2, 3). However, in 1952, Steblay reported the development of a fu]mlnant proliferative glomerulonephritis in sheep immunized to heterologous (4) and later homologous (5) glomerular basement membranes (GBM). The nephritis was transferable by serum (6, 7) and was apparently caused by an antibody which fixed to GBM (6). A similar nephritis has been reported also in monkeys (8) and goats (9) immunized to heterologous GBM, but immunopathologic studies are unavailable. Rabbits are known to develop antibodies reactive with homologous kidney following immunization with mouse (10), dog (11), rat (12), and rabbit (13) renal antigens. Immunization with homologous antigen has less frequently led to the development of nephritis (14). A quite different kind of immunologically induced membranous nephritis was reported in 1959 by Heymann et al. (15) in rats immunized to homologous and ]ater heterologous (16) non-GBM renal antigens mixed with complete Freund's adjuvant. The nephritis was not transferable by serum (17). The pathogenetic mechanisms in this nephritis have not been demonstrated completely but there is evidence to indicate that immune complexes unrelated to the glomerulus may play the most important pathogenetic role (18). A similar nephritis was also produced in rats by Blozis et al. (19) using similar antigens mlxedwith killed ttemophil~ pcr~sis.