Defective disposal of immune complexes and polyclonal B cell activation persist long after exposure to bacterial...

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus experience clinical exacerbation during superimposed bacterial infection. Previous studies in mice indicated that heightened immune phenomena during exposure to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) appear to be related, in part, to polyclonal B cell activation, to abnormal disposal of immune complexes (IC), and to increased localization of IC in tissues. To investigate whether such effects were reversible, we administered bacterial LPS to C57BL/6 mice for 5 weeks. Control mice received vehicle alone. We then discontinued LPS, and 6 weeks later LPS and control mice were challenged with a subsaturating dose of radiolabeled IC; the removal of IC from the circulation, their localization in the liver, spleen, and kidney were determined. In comparison to values in control mice, in mice previously exposed to LPS, serologic features of polyclonal B cell activation persisted; liver uptake of pathogenic IC (greater than Ag2Ab2) was normal, but removal of small size IC (less than or equal to Ag2Ab2) from the circulation was delayed; localization of IC in the kidneys was enhanced, and pathologic proteinuria developed. The effects of repeated exposure to bacterial LPS are partially reversible, but they last long after LPS is discontinued and may contribute to altered disposal of IC, enhanced organ localization of IC, and organ dysfunction.