[Experimental administration of a fatal dose of antiglomerular antibodies]

The administration of a sufficient dose of heterologous antibodies against renal glomeruli in rats produces symptoms of respiratory insufficiency and pulmonary oedema causing death of the animals. Under these experimental conditions the basic pathogenic mechanism appears to be binding of the injected antibodies on the basement membrane structures of pulmonary capillaries resulting in their damage. Such changes are followed by widespread haemorrhagic exsudative changes in the lungs. Localization of the injected antiglomerular antibodies has been studied with the aid of immunohistochemical methods and in addition, by a method using antibodies labelled with radioactive isotopes of iodine, the so-called "paired administration technique". After the administration of a lethal dose of antiglomerular antibodies, they later appeared to be predominantly localized in the lungs. This fact correlates well with the idea of the effect of the antibodies upon pulmonary parenchyma in the present experiment. A remarkable finding was a rather high localization of the injected antibodies in the liver parenchyma which could be explained either by a cross reaction between the antibodies and the antigens of hepatic vascular spaces, or by a shock reaction associated with heart failure and circulatory disturbances.