Interferon-induced glomerular basement membrane and endothelial cell lesions in mice. An immunogold ultrastructural study of basement membrane components.

Newborn Swiss mice were injected daily for the first week of life with mouse interferon alpha/beta. This treatment resulted in a delay in the maturation of the kidney and the development of glomerular abnormalities. The width of the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) was increased up to tenfold and was characterized by a marked thickening of the endothelial aspect of the GBM. The endothelial cells lining the capillary loops were also abnormal with many dilated regions of the rough endoplasmic reticulum that contained amorphous electron-opaque material. Immunogold studies showed that type IV collagen and laminin/entactin were distributed throughout the thickened GBM, and also within the dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum of the endothelial cells. These results show that the interferon-induced lesion within the glomerulus is associated with an accumulation of normal GBM components and that endothelial cells are involved in this pathologic process.