1982 Volume 24 Issue 6 Pages 641-653
Passive Heymann nephritis (PHN) in rats and one shot serum sickness in rabbits were employed as experimental model to investigate the possible effects of rheumatoid factor (RF) on in vivo and in vitro antigen-antibody reaction (1) The experiments of RF and rats with PHN. Following injection of serum containing RF, all rats with PHN developed severe abnormal proteinuria, comparing rats with PHN combined with normal human serum (NHS) or saline. By immuR nofluorescence (IF), rat IgG, C3 and human IgM along glomerular capillary walls in granular pattern were observed in rats with PHN combined with RF, but only rat IgG and C3 in rats with PHN combined with NHS or saline. By light-microscopy, more abundant exsudative hypercellularity in glomeruli was observed in rats with PHN combined with RF, comparing the less changes in rat with PHN combined with NHS or saline. Moreover, by indirect IF, human IgM (presumably IgM-RF) from serum containing RF was observed in glomeruli of rat with PHN. (2) The experiments of RF and one shot serum sickness (SS) in rabbit. Rabbits with the SS received serum containing RF immediately after development of proteinuria showed severe proteinuria and abundant prolif erative glomerulonephrits, comparing that the rabbits with the SS received the serum containing RF or saline before development of proteinuria showed mild type of GNThese results indicated that the in vivo reaction of immune complexes and RF deposited in glomeruli exaggerate the inf lamatory reaction in glomeruli.
