[Immune glomerulopathies of toxic origin. Possible mechanisms of induction]

Mechanisms of toxic-induced autoimmunity including drug-induced autoimmune glomerulonephritis are unknown. In the mercury-induced autoimmune disease in Brown-Norway (BN) rats it has been shown that B cells are polyclonally activated provided that T cells are present. Autoreactive T cells that recognized self-Ia on normal B cells have been found to be highly frequent in HgCl2-injected BN rats. It has been possible to transfer all the autoimmune abnormalities by injecting T cells from HgCl2-exposed BN rats into normal syngeneic animals. However the recipient had to be depleted in suppressor/cytotoxic T cells by treatment with an anti-CD8 antibody for a full-blown disease to appear. These experiments show that a toxic agent may induce an autoimmune glomerulonephritis in the context of an autoimmune disease by generating or expanding anti-self Ia autoreactive T cells provided that suppressor/cytotoxic T cells have been inhibited. Autoreactive T cells are probably responsible for the polyclonal activation of B cells in this model. This mechanism does not rule out that other mechanisms could play a role.