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W G Couser

Publications and source records attributed to W G Couser.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Effect of antibody charge and concentration on deposition of antibody to glomerular basement membrane.

Fixed anionic sites within the glomerular capillary wall influence the permeation of serum proteins, the localization of various antigens, and the deposition of antibody in the subepithelial space. In anti-GBM nephritis antibody deposition occurs very rapidly to antigenic sites located relatively proximal in the glomerular capillary wall. We examined the influence of the glomerular charge barrier on anti-GBM antibody deposition by comparing the rate of deposition of antibodies with cationic and anionic isoelectric points. Purified sheep anti-rat GBM IgG was isolated from acid eluates of kidneys obtained 24 hr after rats were injected with sheep antiserum to rat GBM. Anti-GBM IgG was separated into cationic (pI 6.4-8.5) and anionic (pI 4.2-6.8) fractions, which were radiolabelled with 131I and 125I, respectively, shown to have equal antibody contents measured by in vitro binding to normal glomeruli, mixed in equal amounts, and injected in incremental doses to ten rats. At 1 hr the glomerular antibody binding of each fraction was directly related to the blood level (r = 0.95, r = 0.97) and delivery of antibody (r = 0.98, r = 0.98). Glomerular binding of cationic antibody was four times greater than anionic antibody over the entire range of deliveries studied (P less than 0.001). We conclude that glomerular deposition of anti-GBM antibody is directly related to blood concentration and delivery of antibody. Furthermore, the deposition of cationic antibodies to GBM antigens was significantly greater than the deposition of anionic antibodies. The charge-selective glomerular filtration barrier may be an important determinant of the quantity and subclass composition of anti-GBM IgG deposits in glomeruli, and therefore of the severity of tissue injury produced.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Detection of terminal complement components in experimental immune glomerular injury.

Complement mediates glomerulonephritis by inflammatory cell-dependent and non-inflammatory cell-independent effects on glomerular permeability. The latter may involve terminal components of the complement system. We examined several models of immunologic renal injury in the rat by immunofluorescence (IF) for terminal complement components C5, C6, C7, and C8 in glomeruli using antisera to human C5-8, which cross-react with the analogous rat complement components. Rats with the heterologous and autologous phases of passive Heymann nephritis (PHN) had proteinuria and 1 to 2+ capillary wall deposits of heterologous or rat IgG, rat C3, and C5-8. Complement depletion with cobra venom factor (CVF) significantly decreased proteinuria in both models and prevented deposition of all complement components. Rats with active Heymann nephritis had similar deposits of rat IgG and C5-8. Rats with anti-GBM nephritis and aminonucleoside nephrosis had severe proteinuria which was not affected by CVF treatment and deposits of C5-8 were absent. The presence of terminal complement components in immune deposits in experimental glomerular disease correlates with a functional role for complement in mediating glomerular injury. These data support the hypothesis that the terminal complement pathway may be a major mediator of some types of immune glomerular injury.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Glomerulopathy does not increase renal susceptibility to acute ischemic injury.

To determine whether preexistent glomerular injury and the nephrotic syndrome increase renal susceptibility to ischemic renal injury, normal rats and rats with either experimental minimal-change disease (Adriamycin nephropathy) (AN) or membranous nephropathy (passive Heymann nephritis) (PHN) underwent renal functional and histologic studies under either basal conditions or 18 h after bilateral renal artery occlusion (over 30 min). Prior to renal ischemia AN and PHN rats had minimally depressed glomerular filtration rate (GFR), normal (AN) or increased (PHN) renal blood flow (RBF), heavy proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, decreased urine sodium excretion, extensive glomerular foot process fusion, and intratubular hyalin cast formation. Losses of GFR in response to ischemia were comparable among the three groups of rats (controls, 0.29; AN, 0.28; PHN, 0.25 ml X min-1 X 100 g body wt-1) despite prevailing differences in postischemic hemodynamics. Neither light nor transmission electron microscopy showed any differences in the degree of ischemic renal injury. These results suggest that 1) glomerulopathy and the nephrotic syndrome do not significantly increase renal susceptibility to ischemic renal injury; 2) the syndrome of acute renal failure that occurs in patients with minimal-change glomerulopathy is not due to a marked susceptibility of these kidneys to clinically occult ischemic events; and 3) foot process fusion is probably not a pathophysiologically significant lesion in ischemic acute renal failure, as previously suggested.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1984

Albumin homeostasis in the nephrotic rat: nutritional considerations.

Albumin catabolism and the relationship between plasma albumin concentration and albuminuria were studied in male Sprague-Dawley rats with Heymann nephritis. The rats were placed on isocaloric diets of 8.5, 21, or 40% protein. Serum albumin concentration correlated negatively with urinary albumin excretion for each of these dietary groups, but the correlation was dependent on dietary protein intake. The magnitude of albuminuria reflected the increase in albumin synthesis rate plus the decrease in albumin catabolic rate. Maximal urinary albumin loss was dependent on dietary protein intake. Albumin catabolism was studied in the different groups of nephrotic animals. Albumin catabolism correlated inversely with the rate of albuminuria in the 21 and 40% protein-fed rats and contributed nearly half of the albumin that was lost in these groups of animals. Albumin catabolism was independent of albuminuria in the rats fed 8.5% protein. The rats were fed 18% of their normal caloric intake, and albumin catabolism was studied in nephrotic and control animals. Albumin catabolism increased with increased albuminuria, in contrast to the well-nourished group, and there was no relationship between serum albumin concentration and urinary albumin excretion. Increased catabolism of albumin plays little or no role in albumin homeostasis in the well-nourished nephrotic rat but may be significant in protein- and calorie-malnourished animals.

Albumins↗
PubMed1984

Complement activation by heat-killed human kidney cells: formation, activity, and stabilization of cell-bound C3 convertases.

Heat-killed kidney cells (HKKC) incubated with serum or purified C3 and factors B and D stain intensely for C3 by immunofluorescence. Binding of complement (C) did not occur if ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was added to the C source or if factor B or D was omitted from the mixture of alternative pathway components. When the C-treated cells were washed, then incubated in purified C3 containing 10 mM EDTA, C3 conversion ensued, confirming the presence of a cell-bound C3 convertase. C3-reactive cells were not generated if EDTA was present during formation of the convertase. The addition of C3 nephritic factor (C3NeF) during formation of the C3 convertase from alternative pathway components greatly enhanced subsequent C3 cleavage, presumably by stabilizing labile C3bBb sites; however, binding of C3NeF did not appear to extend the half-life of the convertase, which was 35 min at 37 degrees C in each case. In contrast, little or no effect on C3 conversion could be detected after the addition of equivalent C3NeF to serum and HKKC. Thus, C activation by HKKC involves formation and activity of a cell-bound C3 convertase, which under certain circumstances can be stabilized by C3NeF.

Cells, Cultured↗
PubMed1983

Role of the terminal complement pathway in experimental membranous nephropathy in the rabbit.

Our recent observations of a complement-mediated, cell-independent mechanism of altered glomerular permeability in rat membranous nephropathy suggested a possible role for the terminal complement pathway in the mediation of proteinuria in certain forms of glomerular disease. To directly determine whether the membranolytic terminal complement components (C5b-C9) are involved in glomerular injury, we studied the development of proteinuria in normal and C6-deficient (C6D) rabbits, in both of which a membranous nephropathy-like lesion develops early in the course of immunization with cationized bovine serum albumin (cBSA) (pI 8.9-9.2). C6 hemolytic activity of C6D was 0.01% that of control rabbits. After 1 wk of daily intravenous injections of cBSA, proteinuria developed in 71% of controls (median 154, range 1-3,010 mg/24 h, n = 24), whereas none of C6D were proteinuric (median 6, range 2-12 mg/24 h, n = 12, P less than 0.01). After 1 wk of cBSA, both groups had qualitatively identical glomerular deposits of BSA, rabbit IgG, and C3 on immunofluorescence microscopy, predominantly subepithelial electron-dense deposits on electron microscopy, and minimal glomerular inflammatory cell infiltration of glomeruli. Glomeruli were isolated from individual animals after 1 wk of cBSA and deposits of rabbit IgG antibody were quantitated by a standardized in vitro assay using anti-rabbit IgG-125I. Rabbit IgG deposits were found to be similar in control (29.8 +/- 13.2, range 12.7-48.6 micrograms anti-IgG/2,000 glomeruli, n = 6) and C6D rabbits (32.6 +/- 13.8, range 16.8-48.8 micrograms anti-IgG/2,000 glomeruli, n = 5, P greater than 0.05). After 2 wk, coincident with a prominent influx of mononuclear cells and neutrophils, proteinuria developed in C6D rabbits. These results document, for the first time, a requirement for a terminal complement component in the development of immunologic glomerular injury. Since the only known action of C6 is in the assembly of the membrane attack complex, these observations suggest that the membranolytic properties of complement may contribute to glomerular damage.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Altered glomerular permeability induced by F(ab')2 and Fab' antibodies to rat renal tubular epithelial antigen.

Rats injected with F(ab')2 and Fab' antibody fragments directed against an antigen in the rat proximal tubular epithelial brushborder (Fx1A) developed immediate proteinuria [F(ab')2 43.2 +/- 6.7, N=6; Fab' 9.5 +/- 2.8, N=5; normal 1.6 +/- 0.9 mg/day, N=20]), that subsided after 3 to 5 days' duration. This reaction is in contrast to one exhibited by rats given intact IgG anti-Fx1A; the rats that did not develop immediate proteinuria (2.2 +/- 0.3 mg/day, N=5), and the glomerular binding of 125I-antibody fragments was significantly less than that of intact IgG [F(ab')2 0.11 +/- 0.01; Fab' 0.03 +/- 0.01; IgG 0.17 +/- 0.01% administered equimolar dose] at 24 hr. No proteinuria resulted from equimolar doses of nonantibody F(ab')2 and Fab'. Less than 8% of the proteinuria induced by antibody fragments represented injected material, and 30 to 38% was albumin. Immunofluorescence revealed faint and diffuse glomerular capillary wall deposits of F(ab')2 and Fab' and tubular brushborder staining. Subepithelial, electron-dense deposits and focal, podocyte effacement were seen by electron microscopy in rats given the F(ab')2 antibody. Light microscopy and colloidal iron-staining were normal. In our study antibody fragments appear to interact directly with components of the outer, glomerular capillary wall to alter permeability in the absence of recognized mediators such as complement and inflammatory cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Specific uptake of Heymann's nephritic kidney eluate by rat kidney: studies in vivo and in isolated perfused kidneys.

Antiglomerular antibodies have recently been found in immunoglobulin eluted from kidneys of rats with Heymann's nephritis. To demonstrate a role for these antibodies in the pathogenesis of Heymann's nephritis, paired-label radioisotope studies were used in the current study to quantitate binding of the eluted antibody to glomeruli of isolated perfused rat kidneys. In this perfusion situation, which largely excludes the formation of circulating immune complexes, specific binding of 0.9 to 3.2 per cent of the total eluate protein infused was found with 9 to 33 per cent of the bound protein recovered in the glomerular fractions. Specific glomerular binding was also observed after administration of the paired-label mixture to intact rats. Glomerular immunoglobulin deposits and subepithelial electron-dense deposits similar to those found in rats with Heymann's nephritis were produced by intravenous administration of the eluted antibody. Direct bonding of antibody to glomerular capillary wall antigens, in the manner similar to that established for antiglomerular basement membrane antibody, must be considered in the immunopathogenesis of Heymann's nephritis and potentially in some forms of human glomerular injury as well.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Experimental membranous glomerulonephritis in rats. Quantitative studies of glomerular immune deposit formation in isolated glomeruli and whole animals.

Quantitation of immune deposit formation in glomeruli and correlation with immunohistologic and functional changes has been accomplished only in models of anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody-induced nephritis, or indirectly in immune complex disease by measuring radiolabeled antigen deposition. The kinetics of subepithelial immune deposit formation and the relationship between the quantity of antibody deposited and proteinuria are defined here for the first time in an established model of membranous immune complex nephritis (passive Heymann nephritis) induced by a single intravenous injection of (125)I-labeled sheep immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibody to rat tubular brush border antigen (Fx1A). Measurement of antibody deposition in glomeruli (GAb) isolated from rats injected with 10 mg of anti-Fx1A demonstrated a mean of 12 mug GAb in 4 h, which increased linearly to 48 mug in 5 d. GAb represented only 20 and 44% of total kidney antibody binding at these times. Proteinuria occurred only after 4-5 d of antibody deposition in rats with total kidney antibody binding exceeding approximately 200 mug/2 kidneys. Steroid treatment and vasoactive amine blockade did not significantly alter the quantity or localization of immune deposits. It was also demonstrated that isolated rat glomeruli specifically bound nephritogenic quantities of anti-Fx1A in vitro within hours. Analysis of the quantitative aspects of glomerular antibody deposition in vivo and glomerular antibody binding in vitro provides additional evidence that subepithelial immune deposits in passive Heymann nephritis may form in situ by reaction of free antibody with antigenic constitutents of the normal rat glomerulus. The observed kinetics of deposit formation differ markedly from those in anti-glomerular basement membrane disease and suggest a role for factors in addition to antigen-antibody interaction in determining this unique pattern of glomerular immune deposit formation.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMed1980

A new role for complement in experimental membranous nephropathy in rats.

The only established role for complement in mediating immunologic renal disease involves elaboration of leukochemotactic factors and neutrophil-dependent glomerular injury. In the passive Heymann nephritis (PHN) model of experimental membranous nephropathy, rats injected with sheep antibody to rat proximal tubular brush border antigen (Fx1A) form subepithelial deposits of sheep IgG and rat complement (C3), and develop heavy proteinuria after 5 d without glomerular inflammatory changes. To study the role of complement in mediating proteinuria in PHN, 16 rats were treated daily with cobra venom factor from before antibody injection to maintain C3 levels at < 10% of pretreatment values and compared to 16 untreated controls. Proteinuria at 5 d was abolished in C3-depleted rats (4 +/- 1, controls 70 +/- 15 mg/d, P < 0.001), although renal deposition of 125I-labeled antibody ws the same in both groups (188 +/- 35 vs. 191 +/- 22 microgram IgG/2 kidneys, P > 0.5). Nephritogenic doses of both the noncomplement-fixing F(ab')2 portion and the gamma 2 subclass of anti-Fx1A IgG produced subepithelial deposits of immunoglobulin without C3, but proteinuria did not occur despite glomerular deposition of up to 70 microgram/2 kidneys of gamma 2. However, glomerular deposition of as little as 60 microgram of gamma 1 produced C3 fixation in vivo and heavy proteinuria. No neutrophil exudate could be detected histologically in PHN from the time of antibody injection through development of proteinuria. Proteinuria in five PHN rats depleted of neutrophils to < 200/mm3 with antineutrophil serum was not reduced compared to six controls with normal neutrophil counts (34 +/- 9.6 vs. 25 +/- 10.4 mg/d, P > 0.5). These results demonstrate that proteinuria in the PHN model of membranous nephropathy is complement-dependent and strongly suggest a neutrophil-independent mechanism. Thus a new role for the complement system in mediating immunologic glomerular injury is identified.

Animals↗