Experimental glomerulonephritis in the rat induced by antibodies directed against tubular antigens. I. The natural history: a histologic and immunohistologic study at the light microscopic and the ultrastructural level.

A new form of experimental immune complex glomerulonephritis is described which is induced by one single injection of heterologous antibody directed against antigens present in the brush border of the proximal tubules of the rat kidney. In this model, antigen-antibody complexes are deposited as early as 3 hours after injection of the heterologous antiserum. The first localization of these complexes is seen in the dense layer of the glomerular basement membrane. Later, they move up to the lamina rara externa and stay there for at least 3 months. This model is easily reproducible and offers possibilities for studying the effects of medication on the deposition of immune complexes.