A REPEAT BIOPSY STUDY IN SPONTANEOUS CRESCENTIC GLOMERULONEPHRITIS MICE

Abstract

Background: Spontaneous crescentic glomerulonephritis (SCG)/Kj mice are a candidate for suitable animal model of human pauci-immune crescentic glomerulonephritis (GN). In the present study, we used renal biopsy technique and analyzed time sequence correlations among crescent formation and glomerular neutrophil infiltration in SCG/Kj mice. Methods: We observed the progress of GN in SCG/Kj mice according to the urinary abnormalities, and performed the serial renal biopsies. The kinetics of histopathology and glomerular neutrophil influx corresponding disease stage were examined by enzyme-histochemistry and immunohistochemistry. Results: We divided natural course of GN into three periods in view of urinalysis: a proteinuria-negative/hematuria-negative (P− H−) period, followed by a proteinuria-positive/hematuria-negative (P+ H−) period, and finally a proteinuria-positive/hematuria-positive (P+ H+) period. Endocapillary proliferation phase existed in P+ H− period, whereas crescent formation occurred and extended in P+ H+ period. In P+ H− period, prominent glomerular neutrophil infiltration was observed, while these numbers decreased with the progression of crescent formation. Conclusion: These observations suggest that there is a good correlation between urinalysis and histopathological events of SCG/Kj mice, and that endocapillary proliferation, which contains neutrophil infiltration, may contribute to the subsequent crescent formation in these mice.