Nephrotoxic nephritis in rats; evidence for the glomerular origin of the kidney antigen.

Nephrotoxic anti-rat kidney sera were produced in rabbits by intraperitoneal injection of suspensions of blood-free rat kidney. The nephrotoxin of these sera could be removed by adsorption with saline suspensions of finely ground rat glomeruli, but not by adsorption with other portions of rat kidney or by adsorption with several other rat tissues. It was concluded that nephrotoxic sera of this type react primarily with glomerular tissue and, by inference, that the antigen essential for the production of these anti-kidney sera was of glomerular origin. The observations are consistent with Pressman's (15, 16) demonstration that anti-mouse kidney sera labeled with radioiodine localize primarily in glomeruli.