Carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) induced tubulo-interstitial renal lesions in mice

Abstract

Tubulo-interstitial renal lesions were definitely induced in BALB/c mice and moder-ately induced in C3H/He mice but not in C57BL/6 mice by several intraperitoneal injections of carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄).In the sera of CCl₄-treated mice with renal lesions, anti-renal tubular epithelium (RTE) autoantibody was detected. Induction of these renal lesions was strongly inhibited by the pretreatment of whole body irradiation at 300 rad. And the presence of anti-RTE autoantibody in the sera of CCl-treated mice and the degree of blast formation of spleen cells from these animals were also markedly decreased by the irradiation. According to these results, induction of tubulo-interstitial renal lesions seen in the CCl₄-treated mice seems to be derived from strain variation of sensitivity to CCl₄ and be caused by the combination of direct cytotoxic effects of CC14 and radiosensi-tive immune systems activated by this agent.