Immunopathological studies of polyarteritis nodosa and Wegener's granulomatosis: a report of 43 patients with 51 renal biopsies.

Although it is generally considered that vasculitis of the polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) group and Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) is immune complex (IC) mediated, there are no simultaneous data on circulating IC, complement levels and deposits of Ig and complement in the kidney. Therefore we have performed a retrospective study of 43 patients suffering from PAN and WG. Ig glomerular deposits were uncommon and scanty, except in two patients with WG; C3 deposits were detected in 12 patients, whereas fibrinogen was constantly found when lesions were recent and active.

Severity of glomerulonephritis induced in different strains of suckling mice by infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus: correlation with amounts of endogenous interferon and circulating immune complexes.

Renal lesions due to neonatal infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus were studied in three different strains of mice known to produce different amounts of viral interferon. Very severe ultrastructural lesions similar to those induced by exogenous interferon were found as early as day 8 in C3H mice which produced the highest amount of interferon. Further studies could not be performed in these mice since all died by day 14.

Lymphocytic choriomeningitis infection in the nude mouse. An immunopathological study.

Immunopathological studies of the kidney, determination of circulating immune complexes and interferon blood levels were obtained in adult congenitally-athymic nude mice ((nu/nu) infected with lymphocyte choriomeningitis (LCM) virus as well as in their phenotypically-normal litter mates (nu/+). As previously reported, intracerebral or intraperitoneal infection in nu/nu mice did not induce any mortality and resulted in a carrier state characterized by persistently high levels of virus in the circulation. Interferon was present in the circulation for approximately 6 days.

[Aseptic osteonecrosis during corticosteroid treatment of Behçet's disease (author's transl)].

Four patients with Behçet's disease (a 42-year-old woman and 3 men aged 24, 32 and 39 respectively), who had received high doses of prednisone (0.5 to 1 mg/kg/day) during a mean period of 21 months developed aseptic osteonecrosis of the femoral heads and condyles which obliged to reduce steroid dosage and to introduce additional drugs. Corticosteroids are useful in Behçet's disease, as in other systemic diseases, but they probably act also on the underlying immune vascularitis.

Severity of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus disease in different strains of suckling mice correlates with increasing amounts of endogenous interferon.

A marked difference was observed in the severity of disease in lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) virus-infected suckling BALB/c, Swiss, and C3H mice. BALB/c mice had minimal liver lesions and none died, whereas C3H mice had extensive liver lesions and all mice died. An intermediate pattern was oberved for Swiss mice (36% mortality).

The effect of exogenous interferon: acceleration of autoimmune and renal diseases in (NZB/W) F1 mice.

To determine the effect of prolonged administration of exogenous interferon on the autoimmune disease of NZB/W female mice, forty-four NZB/W mice received three injections per week of 6.4 x 10(4) interferon units from birth to 33 weeks, forty mice were injected with mock interferon and forty-eight mice were left untreated. In mice injected with interferon growth was delayed, survival was decreased, and the severity of the glomerulonephritis was enhanced.

[Nephropathy and nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver (author's transl)].

A renal biopsy performed on a young woman with proteinuria showed a nephropathy consisting of major interstitial infiltration by lipophages and thickening of the glomerular capillary walls with a large amount of "spikes". Anti-IgG, IgM, C3 and C1q sera bound themselves to the extramembranous deposits and the anti-IgM serum to the endomembranous deposits. This striking finding was associated with a regenerative nodular hyperplasia of the liver, an entity that has been observed in only about 20 cases.