Effect of reimmunization with Fx1A late in the course of Heymann nephritis.

There is evidence that active immunologic injury to glomeruli and tubules does not continue into a late stage of Heymann nephritis. Support for that view has been provided by the results of a study of kidney immunopathology following reimmunization with Fx1A late in the course of the disease. An increased derangement of kidney function, observed after reimmunization, was related to changes detected in kidney morphology. The observation that immunologically mediated injury in Heymann nephritis may occur only during a limited period could have implications for our understanding of the pathogenesis of human membranous nephropathy.